197 


Grasses- 
Meadows  and  Pastures, 

by 
J.  B.l  Killobrew. 


UC-NRLF 


;MLTU«E  c 


GRASSES, 


MEADOWS  AND  PASTURES, 


SORGHUM 


AND   THE 


MANUFACTURE  OF  SUGAR. 


BY 

J.  B.  KILLEBREW,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D., 

(.'<-rtninii<.<i>iiiKr  of  Agriculture,  Statistics  and  J/f/^.s  for  ihf  State  of  Tt 


NASHVILLE: 
TAVEI,,  EASTMAN  &  HOWELL 

1880. 


Edward 

MEADOWS  AND  PASTURES. 

A 

COMPENDIUM 


OF   THE 


GRASSES  OF 


PREPARED   EXPRESSLY  FOR  THE 

FARMERS  OF  TENNESSEE, 

BUT 

ADAPTED  TO  THE  WHOLE  COUNTRY. 


BY 

J.  B.  KILLEBREW,  A.  M.,  Ph.  D., 

Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  Statistics  and  Mines   for  the  State  of  Tennessee. 


NASHVILLE : 
TAVEL,  EASTMAN  &  HOWELL. 

1880. 


To  His  EXCELLENCY,  Gov.  A.  S.  MAKKS  : 

The  original  work  issued  from  this  office,  entitled 
"The  Grasses  of  Tennessee,"  including  Cereals  and  Forage 
Plants,  was  so  popular  that  the  means  at  my  disposal  were 
entirely  inadequate  to  supply  the  demand  from  the  farmers 
throughout  the  State.  The  members  of  the  last  House  of 
Representatives  having  frequent  calls  for  them  from  their 
constituents,  passed  a  resolution  authorizing  me  to  publish 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  copies  for  their  use,  but  requir- 
ing the  expense  of  such  publication  to  be  paid  out  of  the 
annual  appropriation  made  to  this  department.  As  this  ap- 
propriation was  not  immediately  available,  I  was  compelled 
to  wait  until  a  sufficient  sum  had  accumulated  to  the  credit 
of  the  department  before  putting  this  brochure  to  press. 
It  is  believed  that  for  most  farmers  this  little  work  will  be 
as  useful  as  the  larger  and  more  scientific  manual,  of  which 
this  is  an  abridgement.  In  this  all  the  scientific  terms  have 
been  excluded,  and  descriptions  of  all  grasses  of  doubtful 
utility  have  been  omitted.  This  edition  embraces  five  thou- 
sand copies,  and  their  distribution  will  no  doubt  increase 
the  growing  desire  of  our  farmers  to  engage  more  largely 
in  the  cultivation  of  the  grasses,  at  once  the  sign  and  sup- 
port of  a  vigorous  civilization. 

Very  truly, 

J.    B.    KlLLEBREW. 

November,  1880. 


IVIAlf4  LIBRARY-AGRICULTURE  DEPT 


INTRODUCTION. 


No  surer  test  of  the  degree  of  agricultural  advance- 
ment of  a  country  can  be  found  than  the  relative  acre- 
age of  land  laid  down  to  grass  and  devoted  to  tillage. 
Wherever  the  grass  is  most  abundant  there  is  the 
highest  farming.  This  statement  is  most  strkingly  estab- 
lished by  comparing  the  agricultural  systems  of  France  and 
England.  In  France  53  per  cent,  of  the  tillable  land  is 
annually  sown  in  some  kind  of  grain,  while  in  England  the 
grain-bearing  per  cent,  of  land  is  only  25.  On  the  other 
hand,  while  France  has  but  22  per  cent,  in  grass,  England 
has  50.  Notwithstanding  this  difference  in  the  amount  of 
land  devoted  to  grain,  the  yield  of  wheat  to  each  inhabitant 
is  almost  identical  in  the  two  countries.  Every  acre  of 
grain  land  in  England  receives,  on  an  average,  the  manure 
from  the  animals  fed  off  three  acres  of  grass.  In  France, 
on  the  contrary,  the  manure  made  from  each  acre  of  grass 
has  to  be  spread  over  2J  acres  of  grain.  In  other  words, 
each  acre  of  grain  in  England  gets  nine  loads  of  manure  to 
one  load  given  to  the  acre  in  France. 

A  further  comparison  would  show  that  the  acknowledged 
superiority  of  English  cattle,  sheep  and  other  domestic 
animals,  over  those  of  France,  or  any  other  country  for 
that  matter,  is  due  more  to  the  superiority  in  quality  and 
quantity  of  the  meadows  and  pastures  of  that  wonderful 
island  than  to  anything  else.  If  we  turn  our  attention  to 
other  countries  we  shall  find  that  the  amount  and  character 
of  grasses  grown  may  always  be  taken  as  a  measure  of  the 
degree  of  advancement  to  which  their  agriculture  has 
reached.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  statement 


broom-corn,  though  really  true  grasses,  are  generally  classed 
with  the  artificials. 

To  one  not  acquainted  with  the  subject,  the  facility  with 
which  grass  scatters  and  diffuses  itself  is  very  surprising. 
But  it  seems  that  so  important  a  vegetation  should  not  be 
subject  to  the  fancies  or  caprices  of  man.  The  seeds  are 
prepared  in  such  a  way,  that  they  are  self- sowers.  It  is 
this  remarkable  facility  of  transportation  that  has  given  rise 
to  the  surmise  of  many,  that  it  grows  by  spontaneous  gene- 
ration. Some  of  the  seeds  have  hooks,  and  by  these  they 
fasten  to  any  passing  animal  and  are  carried  for  miles. 
Others  lie  undigested  in  the  crops  of  birds,  or  maws  of 
animals,  and  are  scattered  with  the  dejectse.  Snows  gather 
them  on  the  hill- sides  and  bear  them  far  away  on  the  melt- 
ing torrents,  and  scatter  them,  mayhap,  along  some  foreign 
shore.  The  air  also  assists  in  this,  and  lifts  them  on  its 
wings  and  they  fly  in  all  directions.  When  grass  once 
stands,  even  if  a  passing  beast  cuts  off  its  annual  supply  of 
seed,  its  rhizomes  or  creeping  roots  thrust  their  tender 
spongioles  through  the  yielding  soil,  and  thus  many  a  field 
is  clothed  with  verdure.  And  besides,  many  of  the  grasses 
are  perennials,  and  though  torn  and  tramped  by  stock,  they 
gather  new  strength  for  another  year,  and  push  on  their 
foothold. 

There  is  a  large  class  resembling  the  grasses  in  general 
appearance,  but  very  different  in  the  physical  structure  and 
nutritive  elements.  I  allude  to  the  rushes  and  sedges,  of 
which  there  are  over  five  hundred  varieties  growing  in  the 
United  States,  and  eighty  of  them  are  found  in  Tennessee. 
What  is  commonly  known  as  "  broomsedge"  is  not  a  sedge 
at  all,  but  a  true  grass,  while  the  well-known  "  seed-tick  " 
grass  is  a  sedge. 

There  is  a  simple  method  of  separating  the  grasses  from 
these  rushes  and  sedges,  which  will  be  briefly  stated. 

The  sheath  of  sedges  is  a  hollow  tube,  through  which  the 

ems  pass,  and  it  cannot  be  removed  without   tearing   it 


open.  This  is  not  the  case  with  grass,  as  the  sheath  can  be 
stripped  down,  it  being  open  to  the  joint.  Besides,  the 
leaves  of  all  grasses  are  two-ranked,  that  is,  the  stem  has 
leaves  on  each  side,  some  opposite,  others  alternate,  but 
always  only  on  two  sides.  The  leaves  of  sedges  are  three- 
ranked,  or  come  out  on  three  sides  of  the  circle  of  a  stem. 
In  other  words,  the  stem  forms  a  circle  of  360  degrees. 
The  grass  leaves  are  180  degrees  from  each  other,  and  the 
sedge  leaves  are  120  degrees  apart. 

In  the  grass-like  rush  the  flowers  are  divided  into  six 
points,  within  which  are  six  stamens  and  a  triangular  ovary 
containing  three  seeds.  A  grass  has  never  but  one  seed  to 
the  ovary. 

The  English  farmer  is  able  to  take  long  leases  of  farms 
from  the  rich  landholder,  at  from  $20  to  $50  per  annum 
rent.  How  does  he  pay  this  extravagant  rent  and  support 
his  family?  He  could  not  do  it  in  any  other  manner  than 
by  improving,  manuring  and  increasing  the  meadows  with 
which  they  are  constantly  set.  A  Tennesseean  will  manure 
his  garden,  and  sometimes  his  corn  land,  but  whoever  thinks 
of  spreading  manure  on  his  meadows.  Yet  the  Englishman 
will  spend  large  sums  of  money,  and  devote  labor  through 
the  whole  winter,  in  accumulating  a  large  compost  heap  to 
apply  to  his  meadows !  The  result  may  be  imagined. 
While  the  Tennessee  meadows  will  average  from  800  to 
1,500  pounds  of  hay  to  the  acre,  English  meadows  will 
make  from  two  to  five  tons  on  land  that  has  no  other  ad- 
vantage than  the  care  bestowed  on  it  by  the  owner. 

Besides  this,  the  grass  grown  in  a  a  damp  cold  climate  is 
never  so  sweet  and  nutritious  as  that  raised  under  a  warm 
sun  and  with  a  quick  growth.  In  this  State  there  is  an 
occasional  drought  that  begins  in  June  or  July,  interfering 
seriously  with  the  development  of  the  later  crops.  But 
such  a  condition  of  climate  is  scarcely  known  in  the  earlier 
months  during  the  growth  of  the  grass  crops.  Yet  there  is 
with  the  spring  rains  a  degree  of  temperature  unknown  to 


(10) 

the  Englishman,  a  degree  sufficiently  high  to  give  grass  all 
the  necessary  heat  to  enable  it  to  attain  its  full  supply  of 
sugar  and  nitrogen  from  the  soil. 

The  beautiful  lands  of  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  Northern  States,  still  retain  a  great  value, 
and  are  in  demand  at  high  prices.  It  is  because  these 
States  have  more  laud  in  meadows,  while  broad  stretches  of 
valuable  pastures  and  prairies  dot  the  landscape  in  every 
direction.  Poor  land  will  not  make  much  grass,  and  with- 
out a  great  outlay  of  capital  land  cannot  be  placed  in  first- 
class  order  at  once.  But  it  only  requires  a  start,  and  then 
the  persevering,  provident  farmer  will  soon  see  his  farm 
blossoming  as  the  rose.  Land  in  Europe  not  infrequently 
reaches  the  sum  of  $1,000  per  acre  for  purely  agricultural 
purposes,  while  here  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  extract,  with 
our  best  farming,  $50  per  acre,  and  then  the  expenses  are 
to  be  drawn  from  that  meagre  sum. 

Let  us  draw  a  comparison  between  our  leading  staples. 
Cotton  here  will  make  on  average  land  800  pounds  seed 
cotton  per  acre.  This  at  the  usual  price  makes  $20  per 
acre.  Corn  will  produce  on  good  land  eight  barrels  per 
acre,  and  at  $2.00,  the  laborer  will  get  $16.  Tobacco,  our 
most  remunerative  crop,  on  good  land  will  make  800  pounds 
of  leaf,  which  is  about  $50  to  $60  per  acre.  Wheat  will 
make,  on  good  land,  fifteen  bushels  per  acre,  and  at  $1  will 
yield  about  $15.  Taking  the  cost  of  production  from  these 
amounts,  the  average  farmer  will  not  have  left,  at  the  best, 
more  than  twelve  dollars  per  acre.  A  good  meadow,  in  full 
bearing,  with  ordinary  care,  will  yield,  with  two  cuttings, 
at  least  two  tons  per  acre.  The  cost  is  altogether  in  har- 
vesting, while  the  trouble  of  sending  to  market  is  no  greater 
than  either  of  the  other  crops.  This,  at  the  price  for  which 
it  has  been  selling  for  several  years,  will  be  $20  per  ton. 
Here,  then,  is  a  difference  in  actual  receipts  of  almost 
double  that  obtained  from  other  crops,  nothing  paid  out  for 
production,  and  besides  the  land  can  be  enriched  year  by 


(11) 

year,  until  it  attains  an  almost  fabulous  fertility.  Nor  is 
this  all.  The  amount  of  hay  produced  from  a  single  acre 
can  be  increased  almost  to  any  extent  by  the  application  of 
stimulating  manures.  If  then,  land  in  Europe  can  produce 
five  tons  of  hay  per  acre,  and  sell  for  §1,000  per  acre,  why 
cannot  Tennessee  lands,  far  better  naturally,  and  in  a  more 
genial  climate,  be  made  to  rival  these  results?  One  thing 
only  prevents,  and  that  is  the  fatal  apathy  and  want  of  en- 
terprise on  the  part  of  the  land  owners.  It  is  the  thirst  for 
immediate  returns.  To  create  this  state  of  tillage,  it  will 
e  necessary  to  proceed  slowly,  and  look  for  no  returns  of 
consequence  for  one  or  two  years.  Pressing  necessities 
weigh  upon  the  farmer,  and  he  thoughtlessly  drives  on  in 
the  same  interminable  furrow,  regardless  of  the  loss  of  time 
and  fertility.  The  Northern  husbandman  bales  his  hay, 
and  is  able  to  ship  it  to  all  parts  of  the  South  in  search  of  a 
market,  and  after  paying  heavy  railroad  charges,  is  still 
able  to  sell  his  produce  at  a  remunerative  price.  The 
Southern  man  has  no  freight  charges  to  tax  his  hay,  and 
yet  he  is  content  to  let  his  Northern  rival  enjoy,  without 
competition,  this  great  market.  When  will  our  eyes  be 
opened  to  our  interests,  is  a  question  often  asked,  but  diffi- 
cult to  answer. 

A  capitalist  invests  his  money  in  United  States  bonds, 
and  without  risk  or  labor  contentedly  cuts  off  his  coupons 
and  enjoys  his  ease,  while  the  merchant,  with  the  same  cap- 
ital, is  harrassed  to  death  meeting  bills,  collecting  accounts, 
and  watching  with  unceasing  vigilance  the  turn  of  the 
markets.  So  it  is  with  farmers.  A  prudent  farmer  will 
invest  his  farm-capital  in  grass,  and  he  contentedly  watches 
the  growth  of  the  grass  and  the  browsing  of  his  cattle, 
while  his  neighbor  raising  corn  and  cotton,  is  busy  all  the 
year  in  cultivating  his  crops,  watching  his  laborers,  buying 
mules,  bacon  and  hay  from  his  more  prudent  friend,  and 
when  he  counts  his  receipts  at  the  end  of  the  struggle,  he 
will  find  his  neighbor  has  absorbed  the  greater  part  of  them. 


(12) 

Not  only  this,  but  a  stranger  appears  in  the  country  desi- 
rous of  investing  in  land,  and  while  he  would  turn  from 
the  cotton  plantation  at  ten  or  twelve  dollars  per  acre,  he 
would  gladly  invest  in  the  grass  farm  at  forty  or  fifty  dol- 
lars per  acre. 

Land  that  will  yield  ten  or  fifteen  dollars  per  acre  clear 
of  the  expense  of  cultivation,  cannot  be  supposed,  and  is 
not  entitled,  to  the  same  value  with  land  that  will  produce 
thirty  or  forty  dollars  on  the  same  breadth.  And  yet  the 
farmers  of  Tennessee  hesitate  to  pursue  this  course.  Gulli- 
ver, in  the  midst  of  his  extravaganzas,  uttered  a  truism 
that  will  go  down  to  all  ages,  when  he  said  "  the  man  who 
makes  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  one  grew  before,  is 
a  great  public  benefactor ; "  and  when  the  citizens  of  Ten- 
nessee look  at  their  own  interest  in  a  proper  light,  they  will 
realize  this  truth,  and  then  by  acting  upon  it,  double  or 
even  quadruple  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  lands  of  the  State. 

Grass  means  less  labor,  less  worry,  fewer  hands,  more 
enjoyment,  finer  stock  and  more  charming  homes,  and  as  a 
consequence,  happier  families,  more  education,  more  taste 
and  refinement,  and  a  higher  elevation  of  the  moral  char- 
acter. Let  grasses  be  sown  and  our  homes  beautified,  and 
there  will  be  more  contentment,  more  satisfaction,  less 
gloom  and  despondency,  less  carping  and  discontent. 


MEADOW    GRASSES. 


The  following  are  the  most  trustworthy  grasses  for  the 
meadow  in  the  latitude  of  Tennessee.  I  give  both  the  com- 
mon and  scientific  names,  the  average  number  of  pounds  in 
a  bushel,  the  number  of  seed  in  an  ounce,  and  depth  of  soil 
at  which  the  greatest  number  of  seeds  will  germinate. : 


p 

p 

*Q   0   *   * 

¥ 

o- 

I'g'l'l 

Common  Names. 

Scientific  Names. 

a 

cr1 

DB 

5* 

ST8.fi? 

(b    P 

1 

3 

1-3  1 

i 

^  P_  g> 

Timothy 

Phleum  pratense  

44 

74000 

\  inch. 

Herd's-grass  or  Red  Top 

Agrostis  vulgaris  

12 

425000 

\  inch. 

Orchard  Grass  

Dactylis  glomerata.... 

12 

40000 

\  inch. 

English  Rye  Grass 

Lolium  perenne  

18to30 

15000 

\  to  \  in. 

Italian  Rye  Grass  

Lolium  Italicum  

15 

27000 

0  to  J  in. 

Millet 

Gam  a  Grass 

Tripsacum  dactyloides 

]Meadow  Oat  Grass 

A  vena  pratensis  

54 

118000 

0  to  i  in. 

IVIeans  Grass 

Red  Clover  

Trifolium  pratense.... 

64 

16000 

6  to  \  in. 

Alsike  Clover  

Trifolium  hybridum.. 

64 

16000 

0  to  \  in. 

Sapling  Red  Clover  

Trifolium  erectum.... 

64 

16000 

0  to  \  in. 

Crimson  Clover  ,  

Trifolium  incarnatum 

64 

16000 

0  to  \  in. 

Lucerne 

Medicago  sativa 

60 

12000 

Sainfoin  or  Esparsette... 

Onobrychis  sativa  

26 

10280 

f  to  i  in. 

TIMOTHY—  (Phleum  Pratense.} 

This  grass  is  known  in  New  England  as  Herd's  grass, 
from  a  Mr.  Herd,  who  found  it  growing  wild  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  introduced  it  into  cultivation.  Further  south, 


(14) 


however,  this  name  is  only  applied  to  Red-top,  or  Agrostis 
vulgaris. 

Mr.  Timothy  Hanson  carried  it  from  New  York  to  Caro- 
lina, and  from  him  it  is  known  as  timothy  grass. 

Its  leaves  are  abundant  near  the  ground,  but  those  on  the 
stalk  are  comparatively  few.  Like  most  other  meadow 
grasses  it  attains  its  greatest  value  as  a  food  before  the  seeds 
are  ripe.  The  latter  are  very  abundant  and  highly  nutri- 
tious. From  ten  to  thirty  bushels  are  made  on  good  land. 

It  ripens  late,  and  consequently  favors 
the  farmer  very  much,  as  he  is  able  to 
save  his  wheat  before  cutting  and  curing 
his  hay.  It  was  a  common  custom  at 
one  time  to  sow  it  with  clover,  as  it  added 
to  the  value  of  the  hay,  and  from  the 
strength  of  its  tall  stems  it  prevented  the 
clover  from  lodging,  but  the  fact  of  rip- 
ening so  much  later  than  clover,  causing 
a  great  loss  from  shrinkage,  has  done 
away  with  this  practice,  especially  as  or- 
chard  grass  is  so  much  superior  in  that 
respect.  Timothy  is  not  suitable  for  pas- 
II  turing,  having  scarcely  any  aftermath. 
\  Besides,  the  roots  are  easily  destroyed  if 
the  stems  are  taken  off  below  the  first 
joint,  this  much  being  required  for  their 
vitality.  For  this  reason,  also,  it  is  nec- 
cessary  to  be  careful  to  set  the  blade  of  the 
mower  sufficiently  high  to  leave  the  first 
joint  intact.  The  roots  of  this  grass  are 
both  fibrous  and  bulbous.  Its  bulbs  have  but  few  rootlets 
starting  out  from  them,  the  plant  depending  for  its  support 
principally  on  the  store  of  nourishment  laid  up  within  the 
bulbs.  If,  therefore,  the  stem  is  shaved  off  entirely,  the 
bulbs,  being  deprived  of  all  nourishment,  throw  out  tubers 
all  around,  and  these  send  up  shoots,  seeking  food  in  the  air, 


(15) 

but  they  are  feeble,  and  if  spared  by  the  frosts  of  winter  are 
so  crippled  they  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  scorching  suns  of 
summer.  For  the  same  reason  pasturing  will  effectually 
destroy  a  timothy  meadow,  if  persisted  in.  The  stock  will 
bite  off  all  foliage,  leaving  the  roots  to  perish,  or  if  hogs  are 
allowed  to  run  on  it  they  quickly  discover  and  destroy  the 
succulent  bulbs.  When  about  half  the  blossoms  turn  brown, 
and  at  least  the  upper  part  of  the  spike  or  head  is  still  pur- 
ple, a  yellowish  spot  will  make  its  appearance  at  or  near  the 
first  joint,  and  this  is  the  true  indication  for  the  harvest  to 
begin,  for  this  spot  will  soon  extend,  if  allowed  to  remain, 
to  the  spike,  and  the  whole  plant  will  be  a  stem  of  wood. 
The  appearance  of  this  spot  also  tells  of  the  maturity  of  the 
bulbs,  and  they  are  not  so  liable  to  injury  from  cutting  as 
before.  If  this  joint  is  left,  the  tubers  will  remain  green 
and  fresh  during  the  entire  winter;  but  their  destruction  is 
inevitable  if  it  is  taken  away  at  any  time  during  the  year. 
These  remarks  do  not  apply  with  equal  force  to  timothy 
when  it  has  a  fibrous  root,  but  the  two  kinds  are  so  inti- 
mately mingled  there  is  no  practical  difference. 

Timothy  stands  at  the  head  of  all  grasses  in  its  nutritive 
qualities.  A  specimen  taken  from  the  field  according  to 
the  above  directions,  yielded  on  analysis,  water  57. 21,  flesh- 
forming  principles  4.86,  fat-forming  principles  1.50,  heat- 
producing  principles  22.85,  woody  fibre  11.82,  and  mineral 
matters  2.26,  in  one  hundred  parts. — (Way.)  A  compari- 
son of  its  relative  value  as  a  food  will  be  made  further  on. 
But  the  above  nutritious  specimen  will  never  be  produced, 
if  the  plant  is  allowed  to  stand  too  long.  On  the  contrary, 
as  a  food  it  would  become  woody  and  worthless,  all  its 
starch,  sugar,  albuminoids,  and  other  nutritive  principles 
having  been  deposited  in  the  seeds,  and  the  stalk  is  nothing 
more  than  a  woody  support. 

Cattle  fed  on  this  kind,  or  on  hay  that  has  been  allowed 
to  get  wet  and  ferment,  will  quickly  lose  their  flesh  and  the 
hair  become  rough. 


(16) 

Timothy  is  exhaustive  to  the  soil,  and  being  a  heavy 
feeder,  requires  attention.  No  crop  can  be  raised  on  ground 
that  will  not  extract  a  certain  amount  of  its  vitality,  but 
unless  something  is  taken  the  farmer  would  receive  nothing. 
Therefore,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  farmer  to  supply  by  ma- 
nure the  deficiency  that  occurs ;  and  this  is  made  the  more 
apparent  from  the  fact  that  the  man  who  applies  the  most 
manure  will  invariably  get  the  best  returns  for  his  labor. 
On  good  rich  land — bottom  is  best — timothy  will  make  two 
tons  per  acre.  By  a  heavy  application  of  compost  or  ma- 
nure from  the  barn-yard,  it  can  be  raised  to  five  tons,  and 
the  straw  lengthened  from  two  feet,  its  usual  height,  to  five 
and  even  six  feet,  and  from  the  same  cause,  the  heads  from 
two  inches  to  twelve  inches  in  length. 

It  is  a  great  and  sure  bearer  of  seeds,  but  the  seeds  are 
easily  destroyed  by  heat  in  the  mow,  unless  precautions  are 
used  in  caring  for  them. 

The  time  of  sowing  is  various.  If  sown  in  the  spring  it 
is  liable  to  be  killed  by  summer  heat,  and  if  sown  late  in 
autumn  it  runs  the  same  risk  with  frost.  It  is,  therefore, 
bad  policy  to  run  the  risk  of  not  only  losing  the  cost  of  seed, 
but  also  the  labor  of  preparing  the  ground.  Much  must 
be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  farmer  in  selecting  a  suitable 
day,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  should  always  be  sown  in 
the  fall,  early  enough  to  get  a  root  strong  enough  to  resist 
winter  killing.  If  sown  in  a  very  dry  soil  it  will  incur  the 
further  danger  of  germinating  from  dews,  and  of  being  killed 
by  the  sun.  Select  the  time  when  the  ground  is  moist,  and 
the  days  not  excessively  hot.  The  quantity  of  seed  per  acre. 
is  various,  but  the  sower  who  spares  his  seed  will  reap  in 
proportion.  Not  less  than  12  pounds,  if  mixed,  and  if  alone, 
at  least  three  gallons  of  clean  seed,  will  be  required  to  se- 
cure a  good  stand.  But  it  will  be  better  to  test  the  seeds 
beforehand,  for  a  failure  from  bad  seeds  will  cause  a  year's 
delay. 

Timothy  does  best  on  rich  alluvial,  moist  land ;  but  any 


(17) 

rich  land,  whether  upland  or  lowland,  will  produce  it,  if 
proper  attention  is  given.  Wherever  calcareous  loam  ex- 
ists it  can  be  profitably  put  to  timothy.  It  will  not  grow  to 
any  extent  at  a  greater  elevation  than  four  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea,  but  on  any  less  height  there  is  no  grass  capa- 
ble of  greater  diffusion. 

In  order  to  secure  a  stand  of  timothy,  the  following  sim- 
ple rules  may  be  adopted : 

1.  Be  sure  of  your  seed  by  testing  them  before  sowing. 

2.  Put  plenty  of  seed  on  the  ground;  if  too  thin,  it  will 
require  time  to  turf  over,  if  too  thick,  it  will  quickly  ad- 
just itself. 

3.  Sow  early  enough  to  enable  the  seed  to  get  a  foothold 
before  winter  sets  in.     Late  fall  and  winter  sowings  are  al- 
ways precarious.     September  is  best,  if  there  is  no  drought, 
otherwise  wait  for  a  "  season." 

4.  Unlike  other  grasses,  timothy  will  not  admit  of  pas- 
turage.    The  nipping  of  stock  will  destroy  the  bulbs. 

5.  NEVER  CUT  THE  SWARD  BELOW  THE  FIRST  JOINT. 

6.  Be  sure  to  have  the  ground  well  pulverized. 

It  is  necessary  to  impress  one  idea  that  has  already 
been  stated.  Do  not  allow  the  timothy  to  stand  longer  than 
the  time  that  the  yellow  spot  appears  near  the  first  joint,  as 
it  will  from  that  time  ripen  very  rapidly,  and  be  worthless. 
General  Harding,  before  the  Farmers'  Club,  called  atten- 
tion to  the  fact,  that  the  greatest  enemy  of  timothy  is  blue- 
grass.  If  stock  is  allowed  to  pass  from  a  blue- grass  pasture, 
at  will,  to  a  meadow  of  timothy,  they  will  quickly  sow  the 
meadow  in  blue-grass,  and  the  latter  will,  in  a  short  time, 
supersede  the  former.  In  the  meeting  above  alluded  to, 
timothy  being  the  subject  of  discussion,  Gen.  Harding  being 
called  on  for  his  views,  said  "he  had  had  considerable  expe- 
rience with  timothy.  He  regarded  timothy  the  most  valua- 
ble of  all  the  grasses  for  hay,  and  more  especially  for  hay 
that  must  be  handled  or  shipped  or  baled.  He  had  tried 
several  varieties.  Beiore  the  introduction  of  blue-grass  our 
2 


(18) 

timothy  meadows  lasted  almost  without  limit,  and  produced 
year  after  year  for  twenty  or  thirty  years.  But  since  we 
have  been  growing  blue-grass  more  extensively,  it  gets  into 
our  timothy  meadows  and  in  a  few  years  and  will  root  it  out; 
so  now,  in  buying  my  timothy  seed,  I  look  more  carefully 
for  blue-grass  seed  than  for  the  seed  of  any  noxious  weeds. 
I  would  rather  sow  dock — I  would  rather  sow  anything  in 
my  timothy  than  blue-grass.  Still  I  value  blue- grass  in  its 
place  as  the  first  of  grasses,  yet  it  causes  more  trouble  in  our 
meadows  than  anything  else.  Again,  our  seasons  have  be- 
come dryer,  and  there  is  much  greater  difficulty  in  getting 
a  stand  of  timothy  than  formerly.  When  I  commenced 
sowing  meadows,  I  had  no  trouble  in  getting  a  stand  of 
timothy,  whether  I  sowed  the  seed  in  the  fall  or  in  the 
spring,  whether  I  sowed  in  the  fall  with  wheat  or  barley,  or 
in  the  spring  with  my  oats.  For  many  years  I  never  failed. 
Now  I  sow  in  the  the  fall,  and  the  timothy  is  frequently 
winter-killed ;  I  sow  in  the  spring,  and  it  is  killed  by  the 
long  droughts  of  summer.  But  these  difficulties  should  not 
deter  us;  we  should  continue  to  sow,  and  persevere  until  we 
get  a  stand.  Hence  if  I  sow  in  the  fall  and  my  timothy  is 
killed,  I  sow  in  the  spring ;  if  it  is  then  killed,  I  sow  again 
and  again  until  I  succeed.  I  have  never  given  up,  and 
have  never  entirely  failed  after  repeated  efforts.  I  got  a 
good  stand  of  timothy  many  years  ago  with  a  gallon  of  seed 
to  the  acre,  now  I  would  recommend  not  less  than  one  and 
a  half  gallons,  or  even  a  peck  of  seed  to  the  acre.  Again, 
the  better  the  stand  you  get,  and  the  thicker  your  grass 
comes  up,  the  more  will  it  keep  out  the  weeds.  The  white 
blossom,  like  the  blue  grass,  has  also  increased  largely,  and 
seems  to  be  yet  increasing.  That  is  a  troublesome  weed  for 
our  meadows,  still  it  is  not  as  pernicious  as  it  seems  to  the 
inexperienced.  True,  you  cannot  sell  white  blossom  in  the 
market,  but  if  you  expect  to  consume  the  hay  at  home,  and 
make  your  timothy  with  a  large  amount  of  white  blossom 
in  it,  you  will  find  you  will  have  good  hay.  Stock  will  eat 


(19) 

it,  and  readily,  mules  and  cattle  seeming  to  do  almost  as 
well  upon  it  as  upon  the  timothy  alone. 

"I  know  that  some  differ  from  me  in  considering  the 
white  blossom  as  troublesome  as  any  other  plant,  and  throw 
it  away.  I  have  some  hands  to  run  along  the  windrow  and 
pick  out  the  white  blossoms,  and  make  hay  of  the  white 
blossoms  alone.  It  pays  very  well  for  the  labor  of  sepa- 
rating it.  I  will  not  throw  the  white  blossom  away,  for  it 
is  valuable.  I  stack  it  in  my  pastures  and  let  the  cattle  go 
to  it  at  will  during  the  winter.  I  also  stack  my  straw,  and 
that  helps  the  cattle. 

"Now,  what  is  the  proper  time  to  cut  timothy?  Some 
would  say  as  soon  as  it  blooms,  others  would  say  after  it  has 
bloomed  and  the  bloom  has  fallen.  If  I  could  cut  it  all  on 
the  day  I  thought  it  would  make  the  best  hay,  I  would  cut 
it  just  about  the  time  it  has  lost  the  largest  portion  of  its 
bloom.  If  you  cut  it  too  green — like  green  fodder — the 
stalk  will  shrivel  and,  after  being  cured,  the  stalk  will 
break  short,  but  if  allowed  to  get  a  little  riper  the  stalk  will 
bend. 

"  How  much  sun  should  it  have?  This  is  a  question  that 
can  only  be  determined  by  experience.  The  proper  time  to 
put  it  up  is  when  it  has  had  as  little  sun  as  possible,  so  you 
are  assured  it  will  not  mould.  If  there  is  too  much  moist- 
ure in  it,  it  will  mould,  and  thereby  injure  the  hay.  If  the 
weather  is  settled,  it  will  cure  better  in  cocks,  but  all  these 
things  must  be  governed  by  circumstances." 

It  is  highly  probably  that  the  reason  Gen.  Hoarding's 
meadows  fail  in  six  or  seven  years,  is  the  fact,  he  admits,  of 
pasturing  them.  It  is  a  well  ascertained  fact  that  timothy 
will  not  bear  pasturing,  and  attention  to  this  and  leaving 
the  first  joint  uncut  will  most  probably  make  our  meadows 
again  live  twenty  or  thirty  years. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Stock  Breeders'  Association  in 
February,  1878,  Gen.  W.  H.  Jackson  said,  that  the  best 
forerunner  of  timothy  is  Hungarian  grass.  If  this  is  sown 


(20) 

in  the  summer  and  harvested  in  August  or  September,  and 
timothy  sown  upon  the  stubble  and  harrowed  in,  the  best 
stand  could  be  obtained.  The  Hungarian  grass  destroys  all 
DOXIOUS  weeds,  and  gives  a  certain  degree  of  compactness  to 
the  soil  necessary  to  secure  a  good  stand  of  timothy. 


BED-TOP— HERD'S  GRASS— (Agrostis  xulgaris.} 

It  was  introduced  from  England,  where  it  was  known  as 
Bent  grass.  When  first  cultivated  it  went  by  the  name  of 
English  grass.  There  are  many  species  now  raised  in 
England,  which  are  still  known  »as  Fine  Bent.  It  is  scat- 
tered over  the  whole  State,  and  but  few  old  pastures  are  free 
from  it,  but  there  it  is  so  dwarfed  by  close  grazing  and 
treading  that  it  shows  to  but  little  advantage.  It  is  com- 
monly called  in  these  situations  fine-top. 

Next  in  importance  to  timothy  as  a  meadow  grass  stands 
Herd's  grass.  Unlike  the  former,  it  also  makes  a  good 
grazing  grass — in  fact  grazing  is  necessary  to  its  preserva- 
tion, as,  if  allowed  to  go  to  seed  a  few  years,  it  dies  out.  It 
loves  a  moist  soil,  and  on  swampy  places  that  will  grow 
scarcely  anything  else,  Herd's  grass  will  thrive  wonderfully. 
It  is  the  most  permaneent  grass  we  have, 
and  by  means  of  its  long,  creeping  roots, 
will  even,  if  sown  too  thin,*  quickly  take 
possession  of  the  .ground.  It  is  greedily 
eaten,  while  young  and  tender,  in  the 
spring  by  all  kinds  of  stock,  and  affords  a 
fine  nourishing  hay,  though  in  less  quantity 
per  acre  than  timothy.  It  grows  from  two 
to  three  feet  high,  and  with  its  purplish 
panicles,  when  in  full  bloom,  presents  a 
most  charming  sight  in  its  soft  feathery 
undulations. 


(21) 

It  is  oftener  mixed  with  other  grasses  than  sown  alone, 
especially  with  timothy  and  clover.  But  it  fails  to  come 
into  harvest  as  early  as  clover,  and  the  same  objections  may 
be  urged  against  it  that  are  to  timothy.  It  yields,  on  moist 
bottom  land,  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  tons  per  acre,  but 
on  uplands  it  is  not  a  good  producer.  On  thin  lands  it  will 
not  gain  a  sufficient  height  to  justify  harvesting  at  all.  It 
withstands  the  effects  of  drought  much  better  than  timothy. 
In  England  it  is  supposed  to  grow  best  on  sandy  soils. 
Its  effects  when  fed  to  milk  cows  are  to  greatly  enrich  and 
yellow  the  butter,  and  European  dairymen  think  they  can- 
not do  without  it  in  their  pastures.  By  the  Woburn  experi- 
ments at  the  time  of  flowering,  it  yielded  10,209  pounds 
of  grass,  which  lost  in  drying  5,615  pounds,  and  furnished 
532  pounds  of  nutritive  matter.  Cut  when  the  seeds  were 
ripe,  it  yielded  9,528  pounds  of  grass,  which  lost  exactly 
half  its  weight  in  drying,  and  afforded  only  251  pounds  of 
nutritious  matter.  From  this  it  would  appear  that  this 
grass  is  doubly  as  valuable  for  feeding  purposes  when  cut  at 
the  time  of  flowering. 

For  stopping  gullies  in  old  fields  it  is  superior  to  blue- 
glass,  as  it  will  throw  its  long,  searching  roots  from  the  top 
down  the  sloping  banks  of  the  washes,  and  fasten  to  every 
patch  of  good  soil  at  the  bottom,  and  then  from  every  joint 
starts  up  a  stalk  to  get  a  fresh  hold.  It  affords  a  very 
good  aftermath  from  which,  in  wet  falls,  a  fair  crop  may  be 
cut.  Unless  well  tramped  in  the  late  fall  it  is  liable  to 
form  tufts  that  rise  out  of  the  soil  from  the  effects  of 
freezing,  and  is  destroyed.  Therefore,  after  cutting,  let  on 
the  stock,  and  their  ieet  will  insure  a  good  turf,  and 
besides,  will  destroy  weeds.  But  the  cattle  should  be  taken 
off  the  pasture  after  rains  have  filled  the  earth  with  water,  or 
it  will  become  too  rough  for  the  proper  use  of  the  mower. 

The  quantity  of  seed  pei4  acre,  when  sown  alone,  is  about 
one  bushel.  The  seed  is  usually  sold  in  the  chaff,  it  being 
difficult  to  separate  it. 


(22) 

The  time  for  harvesting  is  when  it  is  in  full  flower,  or  as 
soon  thereafter  as  possible,  when  all  the  elements  that  are 
necessary  to  form  the  seeds  are  still  in  the  stalk  and  leaves. 
Left  to  ripen  fully,  it  becomes  woody  and  innutritious. 

Many  pursue  the  plan  of  sowing  the  timothy  and  Herd's 
grass  together,  as  they  ripen  together,  and  the  Herd's  grass 
being  much  lower  than  the  former  fills  in  well,  and  the  two 
will  make  a  more  abundant  yield  than  either  separate.  But 
one  requires  pasturage  and  that  will  destroy  the  other. 

It  should  be  sown  in  September,  unless  sown  on  wheat, 
and  then  as  early  as  practicable,  to  enable  the  roots  to  get 
sufficient  depth  to  resist  the  cold  of  winter.  If  sown  alone 
it  will,  like  timothy,  make  about  a  half  crop  the  ensuing 
year,  but  it  is  usually  sown  with  grain,  wheat,  rye  or  barley. 
There  are  a  great  many  marshy  spots  in  Tennessee,  es- 
pecially on  the  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  rivers,  so  full  of 
water  that  nothing  can  be  cultivated  on  them,  and  on  these 
fine  crops  of  Herd's  grass  could  be  secured  every  year, 
which  would  certainly  be  far  preferable  to  allowing  them  to 
run  to  waste.  These  bottoms  are  usually  of  surprising  fer- 
tility, and  would  go  far  to  supply  the  great  deficiency  of 
hay,  and  obviate  the  necessity  of  importing  from  our  more 
thrifty  Northern  neighbors.  It  is  a  perennial,  and  if  prop- 
erly tramped  every  autumn  will  keep  good  an  indefinite 
length  of  time. 

This  grass  also  finds  a  most  congenial  soil  throughout 
West  Tennessee,  in  many  places  in  that  division  of  the 
State  attaining  the  height  of  five  feet.  It  is  probably  better 
adapted  to  all  the  soils  of  the  State  than  any  other  grass. 
I  have  seen  it  growing  in  princely  luxuriance  6000  feet 
above  the  sea  on  the  bald  places  of  the  Unaka  Mountains. 
It  flourishes  upon  the  slopes  and  in  the  valleys  of  East  Ten- 
nessee. It  yields  abundantly  upon  the  sandstone  soils  of 
the  Cumberland  Table-land,  and  beautifies  the  rolling  sur- 
faces of  the  Highland  Rim.  In  the  Central  Basin  it  spar- 
kles in  the  beauty  of  its  verdure,  and  is  second  only  to  red 


(23) 

clover  and  timothy  as  a  meadow  grass.  No  other  grass  is 
sown  so  much  for  hay  upon  the  lands  lying  at  the  western 
base  of  the  Cumberland  Table-land.  In  Warren  county 
especially  it  is  highly  esteemed  for  its  longevity  and  iruit- 
fulness. 


GRASS — (Dactylis  Glomerala.) 

Whether  a  native  of  America  or 
Europe,  or  indigenous  to  both  coun- 
tries, it  is  well  known  that  orchard 
grass  is  diffused  more  extensively  than 
almost  any  other  grass,  growing  all 
over  Europe,  the  northwestern  parts 
of  Africa,  and  in  Asia  Minor.  Known 
as  cock's  foot  in  England  for  many 
centuries,  it  was  not  appreciated  as  a 
forage  plant  until  sent  to  that  country 
from  Virginia.  It  is  a  perennial,  and 
grows  upon  congenial  soils  anywhere 
between  35  and  47  degrees  north  lati- 
tude. It  likes  a  soil  moderately  dry, 
porous,  fertile  and  inclined  to  be  sandy.  On  stiff  clay  soils, 
retentive  of  moisture,  the  roots  do  not  acquire  such  a  vigor 
as  to  give  a  luxuriant  top  growth.  The  feebleness  of  the 
roots  upon  such  a  soil  makes  them  liable  to  be  thrown  up 
by  the  earth.  It  may  be  grown  successfully  on  a  lean, 
sterile  soil,  by  a  top  dressing  of  stable  manure,  yielding 
during  a  moderately  wet  season  from  two  to  three  crops. 
In  its  rapid  growth  in  early  spring  lies  one  of  its  chief 
merits,  furnishing  a  rich  bite  for  cattle  earlier  than  almost 
any  other  grass.  It  also  grows  later  in  the  fall.  It  is  very 
hardy  when  well  set,  makes  a  great  yield,  grows  rapidly 
and  vigorously  upon  suitable  soils,  supplies  a  rich,  nutri- 


(24) 

tious  hay,  which,  compaied  with  timothy,  is  in  value  in  the 
proportion  of  7  to  10.  It  starts  out  early  in  spring,  and 
comes  into  blossom  about  the  time  of  red  clover.  It  attains 
a  height,  upon  good  soils,  of  three  feet,  though  upon  soils  of 
great  fertility  it  sometimes  reaches  the  height  of  five  feet. 
After  being  cut,  it  springs  up  rapidly,  sometimes  in  rainy 
weather  growing  three  or  four  inches  within  a  week.  This 
quality  of  rapid  growth  unfits  it  for  a  lawn  grass  unless  cut 
every  week. 

Nevertheless,  this  very  quality  makes  it  stand  unrivalled 
as  a  pasture  grass.  The  Hon.  John  Stanton  Gould  says  in 
his  essay  upon  this  grass:  aThe  laceration  produced  by 
the  teeth  of  cattle,  instead  of  injuring,  actually  stimulates  it 
to  throw  out  additional  leaves,  yielding  the  tenderest  and 
sweetest  herbage." 

The  chief  objection  to  orchard  grass  is  that  it  grows  too 
much  in  stools  or  tussocks.  This  can  be  remedied  by  sow- 
ing a  larger  quantity  of  seed  per  acre.  Never  less  than  two 
bushels  (14  pounds  to  the  bushel}  per  acre  should  be  sown, 
and  two  and  a  half  bushels  would  even  be  preferable.  Mr. 
Gould  says  that  if  the  meadows  are  dragged  over  in  spring 
with  a  fine  toothed  harrow,  and  then  rolled  this  disposition 
will  be  completely  overcome.  The  disposition  to  stool  can 
also  be  checked  by  sowing  with  other  grasses.  A  half  gal- 
lon of  clover  seed,  one  gallon  of  Herd's  grass,  and  two  bushels 
of  orchard  grass,  per  acre,  sown  about  the  "25th  of  March, 
in  our  latitude,  will  make  an  excellent  pasture.  By  the 
middle  of  June,  upon  good  soils,  the  amount  of  forage  will 
tqual  the  best  fields  of  clover.  It  should  not,  however,  be 
pastured  the  first  season  until  August,  however  tempting  it 
may  be.  In  this  many  Tennessee  farmers  have  made  a  mis- 
take. By  pasturing  before  the  roots  are  well  established 
much  of  the  grass  is  pulled  up  and  destroyed.  I  have  met 
with  many  farmers  who  condemned  the  orchard  grass  for 
want  of  hardiness  and  endurance,  but  in  every  case  the  fault 
was  with  the  farmer  himself  in  pasturing  too  early. 


(25) 

Orchard  grass  grows  well  in  the  shade,  and  hence  its 
name.  It  withstands  hot,  dry  weather  better  than  any 
other  valuable  grass.  Three  good  crops  of  leafy  hay,  if  the 
weather  is  seasonable,  may  be  counted  on  after  the  first  year, 
but  only  one  will  blossom. 

The  analysis  by  Prof.  Way  of  the  green  grass  in  blossom 
gives  the  following  result : 

Per  cent. 

Water 70  00 

Fatty  matter 0.94 

Flesh  formers 4.06 

Heat  producers , 13.30     , 

Woody  fibre 10.11 

Ash 1.59 

Analysis  by  Scheven  and  Ritthausan  gives : 

Water  65.00 

Fat 80 

Flesh  formers 3.00 

Heat  producers 12.60 

Woody  fibre.. 16.10 

Ash 2.40 

The  hay  made  of  orchard  grass,  as  analyzed  by  Wolff 
and  Knap,  gives: 

Water 14.3 

Organic  matter  , 81.1 

Ash 4.6 

Albuminoids  11.6 

Carbohydrates * 40.7 

(/rude  fibre 28.9 

Fat 2.7 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  the  seed  from  hardy  plants 
be  sown.  In  no  department  of  agriculture  does  the  old 
maxim  "like  produces  like"  obtain  in  a  greater  degree  than 
in  this  grass.  Seed  from  weakly,  sickly  plants  will  pro- 
duce the  same  kind  of  offspring,  however  fertile  the  soil 
may  be.  Messrs  Lawson  &  Son,  by  selecting  the  best  seed, 
and  sowing  for  several  years  none  but  the  best  of  each  gen- 
eration, established  a  new  variety  of  orchard  grass,  known 


(26) 

by  its  great  size  and  vigor  as  the  giant  cock's  foot.  Let 
farmers  be  careful,  therefore,  in  saving  seed  to  sow  from  the 
most  vigorous  growth. 

The  reason  why  so  many  bare  spots  are  seen  in  pastures 
and  meadows  of  this  grass  is  due  to  two  causes:  1st,  the 
land  is  generally  not  half  prepared  to  receive  the  seed ;  and 
2d,  there  is  a  penny  wise  and  pound  foolish  policy  in  sow- 
ing too  few  seed.  Let  the  land  be  well  broken  by  deep  and 
thorough  plowing,  and  then  be  finely  pulverized  by  repeated 
harrowings.  Sow  the  seed,  the  thicker  the  better,  and  run 
a  light  brush  or  harrow  over  the  land  so  as  to  cover  the 
seed  slightly.  To  sum  the  whole  matter  up,  "  plow  the  land 
deep,  pulverize  the  soil  well,  be  generous  as  to  the  quantity 
of  seed,  let  that  seed  be  good,  sow  it  evenly,  give  the  land 
as  good  treatment  afterwards  as  is  given  to  meadow  lands 
in  timothy." 

Its  chief  superiority  over  timothy  lies  in  the  value  of  its 
aftermath.  It  will  improve  under  depasturing  when  a  tim- 
othy meadow  would  be  rendered  worthless. 

To  sum  up  the  merits  of  this  grass : 

1.  It  is  better  suited  to  every  variety  of  soil  than  any 
other. 

2.  It  will  grow  with  greater  rapidity  than  any  other  grass, 
and  for  this  reason  will  sustain  a  large  number  of  animals, 
and  is  excellent  for  soiling  purposes. 

3.  It  will  grow  in  the  shade.     This  quality  will  enable 
the  farmers  to  utilize  their  woodlands  as   pasture,  and  so 
make  them  a  source  of  profit. 

4.  It  will   resist  drought  better   than  any   other  grass. 
The  hot  summers  make  this  a  very  valuable  quality  in  any 
grass.     Often  in  July  and  August  the  pastures  become  so 
parched  as  to  afford  but  a  small  amount  of  grazing.    Orchard 
grass  then  comes  to  the  rescue  and  supplies  the  deficiency. 

5.  It  is  both  a  pasture  and  a  hay  grass.     After  a  crop  of 
hay  has  been  taken  off  in  June,  the  aftermath  will  furnish 
a  good  pasture  throughout  the  remainder  of  the  summer. 


(27) 

6.  It  may  be  sown  in  the  spring  or  fall  with  small  grain 
or  alone.  It  is  best  not  to  sow  it  with  grain,  as  the  extra 
production  of  grass,  when  sown  alone,  is  worth  more  than 
the  grain  and  grass  grown  together. 


ENGLISH  RYE  GRASS.— (Lolium  perenne.) 

This  was  the  first  grass  cultivated  in  England, 
and  is  a  great  favorite,  occupying  the  same  posi- 
tion there  that  timothy  does  with  us.  It  is  but 
little  cultivated  in  the  United  States,  though 
some  successful  experiments  have  been  made  with 
it  in  Tennessee.  It  is  of  quick  growth,  and  will 
sometimes  yield  forty  bushels  of  seed  per  acre. 
It  produces  a  nutritious 'herbage.  There  are  no 
less  than  seventy  varieties  produced  in  England. 

One  of  the  most  valuable  species  of  this  grass 
is  the  Lolium  Italicum  mentioned  below. 


ITALIAN  RYE  GRASS.— (Lolium  Italicum.) 

Prof.  Way  gives  the  following  analysis  of  this 
grass:  Water  75.61,  flesh-forming  principles 
2.45,  fatty  matters  .80,  heat-producing  principles 
14.11,  woody  fibre  4.82,  mineral  substances  2.21. 

This  grass  has  been  lately  introduced  from 
Europe,  where  it  is  said  to  be  more  universally 
adapted  to  all  sorts  of  climates  than  any  other 
grass,  and  is  very  popular  there.  It  grows  from 
two  to  three  feet  high,  and  on  moist,  rich  land, 
will  perhaps  bear  cutting  as  frequently  as  a  soil- 
ing or  green  forage  crop,  as  any  other  grass,  af- 


(28) 

fording  a  succession  of  green  cuttings  untillate 
in  the  fall.  It  can  be  forced  by  manures  and  ir- 
rigation to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  known 
species  of  hay. 

However,  as  can  be  seen  from  its  analysis,  it 
has,  when  green,  nearly  half  less  nutrient  proper- 
ties than  timothy,  and  unless  the  farmer  wishes 
to  cut  it  as  a  green  food,  it  has  no  advantages 
over  the  latter.  It  is  an  annual  with  a  fibrous 
root,  and  bears  grazing  well.  The  time  of  sow- 
ing is  early  fall,  and  ten  pounds  of  seed  are  re- 
quired per  acre,  a  bushel  weighing  eighteen 
pounds.  It  is  a  valuable  grass  for  Southern  farm- 
ers, where  hay  is  scarce  and  high.  Being  sown 
in  the  fall,  the  farmer  will  be  enabled  to  cut  it 
early  in  the  spring,  thus  giving  the  stock  a  change 
from  corn  alone  to  succulent  hay.  It  has  been 
fully  tested  in  Georgia,  and  has  given  great  sat- 
isfaction. It  gives  a  fine  color  to  the  butter  of 
cows  fed  on  it,  and  they  eat  it  with  great  relish. 
It  withstands  the  hottest  suns  of  summer  as  well 
as  the  frosts  of  the  severest  winter.  It  must  be 
sown  alone,  as  it  will  quickly  choke  and  destroy 
clover  or  other  grasses.  Its  yield  per  acre,  ac- 
cording to  received  authority,  is  something  im- 
mense. Mr.  Dickens,  of  England,  sowed  it  on  a 
stiff,  clay  soil,  well- manured,  cut  it  ten  times  dur- 
ing one  year;  the  first  time,  ten  inches  in  March;  April 
13th  again;  and  May  4th  a  third  time;  May  25th  a  fourth 
time;  June  14th  again;  July  22 J  a  sixth  time,  with  ripe 
seed  and  three  loads  hay  to  the  acre.  Immediately  after 
each  cutting  it  was  manured  with  liquid  manure,  the  pro- 
duce of  each  crop  increasing  with  the  temperature  of  the 
atmosphere,  from  three-quarters  of  a  load,  the  first  cutting, 
to  three  loads  the  last.  He  discontinued  manuring  now, 
thinking  its  growth  would  be  terminated  in  bearing  seed, 


(29) 

but  he  afterwards  cut  four  crops  from  it.  On  the  26th  Jan- 
uary following,  it  measured  sixteen  inches  in  height.  The 
last  cutting  was  October  30th;  and  on  the  8th  April  a  crop 
of  twenty- two  inches  high  was  cut  from  it.  "  I  was  desirous 
to  know  the  exact  amount  taken  per  acre  for  the  year,  and 
it  amounted,  on  a  careful  measuring  and  weighing  of  green 
hay,  thirteen  tons  and  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
pounds  per  acre  ! "  (Coleman's  European  Agriculture.) 

It  presents  a  most  charming  view,  with  its  broad,  dark 
green  foliage,  and  especially  in  a  dry  year,  when  vegetation 
is  parched  up  all  around,  it  does  not  show  any  signs  of  los- 
ing its  fresh,  living,  luxuriant  growth.  Although  an  annual, 
a  meadow  of  this  grass  may  be  made  perennial  by  scatter- 
ing fresh  seed  over  the  ground  every  second  year,  and 
scratching  it  with  a  harrow  with  sharp  teeth.  Its  unusual 
ability  to  withstand  the  vicissitudes  of  heat  and  cold  would 
make  it  a  desirable  grass  in  any  thirsty  soil,  as  well  as  in 
moist  ones,  and  might  possibly  be  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
soils  of  the  western  portion  of  our  State.  At  least  it  is 
worthy  of  a  trial. 

Mr.  Gould  thinks  the  valuable  qualities  of  this  grass  may 
be  summed  up  as  follows  : 

"  Its  habit  of  coming  early  to  maturity. 

"  Its  rapid  reproduction  after  cutting. 

"  Its  wonderful  adaptation  to  all  domestic  animals,  which 
is  shown  by  the  extreme  partiality  they  manifest  for  it, 
either  alone  or  when  mixed  with  other  grasses;  whether 
when  used  as  green  food  for  soiling,  as  hay,  or  as  pasturage, 
in  which  latter  state  its  stems  are  never  allowed  to  ripen 
and  wither  like  other  grasses. 

"  Its  beneficial  influence  on  the  dairy,  not  only  augment- 
ing the  flow  of  milk,  but  improving  the  flavor  of  the  cheese 
and  butter. 

"Its  uncommon  hardiness  and  capacity  to  withstand  the 
vicissitudes  of  both  wetness  and  dryness." 


(30) 

GRAB  OR  CROP  GRASS.— (Panicum  Sanguinate.) 

This  grass  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Eleusine 
Indica,  also  called  crab  grass,  from  its  supposed  resem- 
blance to  crab. 

This  species  is  so  familiar  to  every  Southern  farmer,  that 
it  would  seem  to  be  superfluous  to  notice  it.  But  as  little 
as  it  may  appear,  it  is  one  of  our  most  valuable  indigenous 
grasses. 

Crab  grass  is  an  annual,  and  so  full  of  seed  is  it,  that  it 
is  never  necessary  to  sow  it.  It  is  never  cultivated  alone, 
which  could  be  easily  done  by  sowing  the  seed  on  a  smooth 
surface  about  the  first  of  June.  When  the  cultivation  of  a 
piece  of  ground  ceases,  it  at  once  takes  possession  of  it,  and 
soon  furnishes  a  fine  pasture.  It  grows  not  only  in  the  cul- 
tivated fields,  but  in  old  pastures,  yards  and  woods. 

It  is  a  fine  pasture  grass,  although  it  has  but  few  base 
leaves,  and  forms  no  sward,  yet  it  sends  out  numerous  stems, 
branching  freely  at  the  base.  It  serves  a  most  useful  pur- 
pose in  stock  husbandry.  It  fills  all  our  cornfields,  and 
many  persons  pull  it  out  for  hay.  It  makes  a  sweet  food, 
and  horses  are  exceedingly  fond  of  it,  leaving  the  best  hay 
to  eat  it.  Should  it  be  desired  to  secure  a  good  crop  of  it, 
do  not  pasture  the  wheat  or  oat  stubble,  except  with  hogs, 
until  the  crab  grass  gets  a  good  start,  then  take  off  the  hogs, 
and  allow  it  to  get  into  bloom,  and  if  the  land  is  good,  there 
will  be  a  paying  quantity  to  save.  It  should  be  sedulously 
guarded  from  rain. 


MILLET.— (Panicum  Miliaceum.) 

There  are  a  great  many  varieties  of  this  important  grass, 
and  almost  every  year  adds  to  the  list  of  them.  The  pre- 
ference for  any  variety  is  arbitrary,  yet  there  are  many 
advantages  belonging  to  all.  But  so  far  as  the  planter  is 


(31) 

concerned,  one  description  serves  for  all,  as  the  mode  of  cul- 
ture is  the  same,  and  the  only  difference  is  in  the  botanic 
characteristics. 

The  first  millet  cultivated  in  this  State  was  the  kind  com- 
monly called  Tennessee  millet.  In  a  few  years  the  Hun- 
garian grass,  or  millet,  became  popular.  It  does  not  yield 
so  much  hay,  but  it  is  eaten  with  more  avidity  by  stock. 
The  Missouri,  which  is  only  a  modification  of  the  Tennessee, 
next  became  the  favorite,  and  then  the  German  millet  came 
and  superseded  all  others.  The  manner  of  its  introduction 
was  in  this  wise  : 

Two  Germans  came  to  Tennessee  in  1861.  One  of  them 
brought  a  little  sack  of  millet  seed,  about  a  quart,  which 
he  kept  in  his  trunk  during  the  war.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  he  took  it  out  one  day  and  handing  it  to  a  merchant  on 
Market  street  asked  him  to  give  it  to  some  good  farmer  for 
planting.  The  merchant  gave  it  to  Mr.  James  Allen,  of 
Williamson  county,  one  of  the  best  millet  seed  planters  in 
the  State.  The  crop  was  the  admiration  of  the  whole  coun- 
try, and  he  gave  a  half  bushel  to  Dr.  W.  M.  Clark.  He 
planted  the  entire  amount  and  wrote  concerning  it  so  that 
the  seed  sold  for  from  three  and  a  half  to  five  dollars  a 
bushel.  It  has  taken  precedence  of  all  other  varieties. 

Last  year  the  Department  at  Washington  sent  out  a  new 
variety  called  "  pearl  millet."  It  has  proved,  however,  to 
be  a  variety  that  has  been  planted  for  many  years  in  the 
extreme  Southern  States  and  is  of  but  little  value  unless  cut 
as  a  green  forage.  It  grows  rapidly  and  is  eaten  with  relish 
by  stock.  But  if  allowed  to  attain  full  growth,  or  produce 
seed,  it  cannot  be  eaten,  as  it  becomes  woody.  It  may  be 
cut  every  six  weeks  through  the  season,  or  when  it  gets 
high  enough  to  be  reached  by  a  mowing  blade. 

We  will  now  give  its  cultivation  in  general  and  its  use, 
which  embraces  every  variety  as  well  as  one. 

At  one  period,  it  was  deemed  sufficient  food  for  any  stock, 
without  the  aid  of  anything  else.  The  fodder  was  hay  and 


(32) 

the  seed  was  corn.  But  later  investigations  have  demon- 
strated the  fact,  that  when  hay  ripens  to  seed,  its  usefulness  as 
a  hay  measurably  ceases.  Were  stock  fed  exclusively  on 
seed- heads,  with  a  sufficiency  of  good  hay,  they  would 
thrive  exceedingly  well,  or  if  the  millet  is  cut  while  in  the 
flower,  or  eyen  when  the  seed  is  in  the  milky  state,  and  fed 
to  stock  in  combination  with  grain,  they  would  do  well. 
But  even  then,  it  is  much  inferior  to  oats,  timothy,  or  Herd's 
grass.  Its  special  recommendation  is,  that  it  yields  a  larger 
proportion  of  hay  than  other  grasses.  It  requires  a  rich, 
dry  soil,  and  Avill  stand  almost  any  amount  of  droughts, 
seeming  to  dry  up  during  the  heat,  but  when  it  rains  it  will 
start  off  with  renewed  life,  and  do  as  well  as  ever.  It 
makes  large  quantities  of  seed  per  acre,  the  Hungarian 
yielding  30  bushels;  the  Missouri  40;  the  Tennessee  50; 
and  the  German  from  60  to  80  bushels  per  acre.  The  Hun- 
garian millet  is  a  better  hay  than  either  of  the  others,  but 
its  yield  is  much  less.  The  Tennessee  millet  perhaps  yields 
more  hay  than  either  of  the  other  three,  but  the  Missouri 
has  more  reputation  as  a  feed  for  cattle.  Should  it  be 
wished,  however,  to  sow  for  a  money  crop,  it  will  be  far 
preferable  to  sow  the  German  millet.  The  Hungarian  has 
a  small  head,  a  simple  spike,  while  the  others  have  com- 
pound spikes,  most  notably  the  German.  It  is  easily  raised, 
at  less  cost  than  corn,  and  makes,  on  good  ground,  nearly 
double  as  many  bushels  as  the  latter  per  acre.  For  all 
kinds  of  fowls  it  is  unsurpassed,  and  it  is  a  powerful  stimu- 
lant to  laying  eggs. 

To  sow  for  hay,  prepare  the  ground  in  a  thorough  man- 
ner, pulverizing  it  completely,  and  when  the  ground  is  in  a 
sufficiently  moist  condition,  in  June,  sow  the  seed,  a  bushel 
to  the  acre.  Never  sow  if  the  ground  is  too  dry  or  too  wet. 
If  too  dry,  the  seed  near  the  surface  will  parch  in  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  a  stand  will  fail  to  appear.  If  too  wet,  the 
usual  injury  to  the  land  occurs  and  the  crop  "frenches"  or 
turns  yellow  and  dwarfs.  After  sowing,  harrow  well  and 


(33) 

the  labor  is  over.  The  millet  will  require  seventy  or 
eighty  days  to  mature,  unless  it  is  sown  in  July,  when  it 
will  require  a  few  days  longer. 

Two  crops  of  Hungarian  grass  can  easily  be  raised  from 
the  same  ground  annually.  A  farmer  of  Davidson  county 
raised  a  most  excellent  crop  of  Hungarian  grass,  sown  the 
1st  day  of  September  and  cut  on  the  10th  of  October. 
Another,  of  Williamson  county,  secured  a  good  crop  of 
German  millet  sown  on  the  13th  day  of  August,  and  cut  on 
the  12th  day  of  October. 

For  seed,  prepare  the  ground  as  above  described,  and  then, 
with  a  light  bull-tongue  or  skooter  plow,  run  light  parallel 
rows  thirty  inches  apart,  and  with  a  tin  cup  or  old  oyster 
can  that  has  three  or  four  holes  punched  in  the  bottom  with 
a  4-penny  nail,  walk  rapidly  along  the  furrow,  and  the  seed 
will  sift  into  it  from  the  cup  about  right  for  a  stand.  Cover 
very  lightly  with  a  cotton  coverer,  and  when  the  seeds  begin 
to  sprout,  but  before  they  show  the  sprouts  above  ground, 
run  over  the  field  with  a  harrow,  so  as  to  loosen  the  ground 
and  destroy  weeds.  Afterwards  cultivate  with  a  cultivator 
and  double- shovel,  one  plowing  with  each  being  all  that  is 
required.  It  will  be  necessary  to  thin  out  the  Tennessee 
millet  with  hoes,  leaving  a  mere  thread  of  stems,  as  it  stools 
prodigiously;  but  this  will  be  unnecessary  with  either  of 
the  other  three,  as  they  scarcely  stool  at  all. 

To  save  it  for  seed,  it  must  be  cut  with  reap-hooks,  tak- 
ing just  enough  of  the  head  to  enable  the  laborer  to  make  it 
into  bundles;  or  if  preferred,  it  can  be  broken  off  at  the 
head,  taking  only  the  seed,  leaving  the  stubble  to  renew  the 
soil.  They  are,  after  treading  out  in  a  barn  or  on  a  clean 
spot,  separated  from  the  chaff  with  an  ordinary  wheat  fan. 

This  grass  is  of  great  value  to  the  renter  who  has  no  op- 
portunity of  continuing  in  possession  of  the  land  long 
enough  to  set  a  meadow.  A  crop  of  millet  is  a  good  forerun- 
ner for  a  meadow,  as  it  destroys  all  the  noxious  weeds,  and 
leaves  the  land  in  a  fine  condition  for  timothy  or  Herd's  grass. 
3 


(34) 

GAM  A  GKASS— (Tripsacum  dactyloides.) 

This  is  in  some  sections  called  sesame  grass.  It  is  the 
largest  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  grasses  we  have, 
growing  to  the  height  of  seven  feet.  It  is  abundant  through- 
out the  Mississippi  Valley,  on  moist,  slushy  places.  When 
young  and  succulent  it  is  eaten  with  avidity  by  stock,  and 
makes,  from  its  rapid  growth,  a  good  soiling  or  forage  crop, 
but  when  it  gets  large  its  stem  is  so  woody  stock  refuse  to 
eat  it.  Its  leaves  are  very  large,  equal  in  size  to  the  leaves 
of  corn,  but  they  are  rough  and  hairy. 

The  grass  may  be  cut  three  or  four  times  a  year,  and 
though  in  its  native  state  it  grows  in  swamps,  it  thrives  almost 
equally  well  on  dry  or  sandy  ridges.  It  will  grow  where 
timothy  or  Herd's  grass  will  not,  and  consequently  is  well 
suited  to  a  large  section  of  our  State.  The  quantity  of  hay 
taken  from  one  acre  is  simply  enormous,  and  resembles 
very  much  corn  fodder,  and  as  a  hay  is  fully  equal  to  it,  and 
it  can  be  saved  at  one- tenth  the  labor  required  to  save  fod- 
der. The  roots  are  strong  and  large  as  cane  roots,  so  let 
it  be  sown  where  it  will  not  be  desired  to  remove  it.  How- 
ever, close  grazing  for  a  few  years  will  destroy  it. 

It  is  very  nutritious  and  succulent  when  cut  green.  The 
great  mass  of  roots  it  has  will  serve  to  open,  loosen  and  im- 
prove the  land  upon  which  it  grows.  It  should  never  be 
allowed  to  shoot  up  the  seed  stem  when  desired  for  hay. 

It  is  with  difficulty  the  seed  can  be  made  to  vegetate,  and 
therefore  it  must  be  propagated  by  slips  from  the  roots. 
Prepare  the  land  well,  lay  off  the  furrows  with  a  bull-tongue 
plow  two  feet  apart,  and  drop  a  small  piece  of  root  about 
two  feet  apart  in  the  furrow,  covering  with  a  board.  The 
creeping  roots  will  soon  meet,  and  the  ground  is  quickly 
turfed  with  it.  It  should  be  planted  early  in  September. 
Of  course,  the  richer  the  land,  whether  upland  or  bottom, 
the  greater  the  yield,  as  the  time  has  never  yet  come  when 
poor  land  will  make  better  crops  of  anything  than  fertile 
land.  I  have  seen  it  growing  with  great  luxuriance  in 
Montgomery  county. 


(35) 


MEADOW  OAT  GRASS— (Avena pratemis.) 

This  is  a  perennial  grass,  and  is  a  native  of  Great  Britain. 
It  is  one  of  the  few  grasses  that  do  best  on  a  dry  soil.  It 
grows  to  the  height  of  only  eighteen  inches  in  its  native 
pastures.  But  here  it  is  quite  a  different  grass,  and  rises  to 
the  height  of  from  five  to  six  feet.  It  will  not  grow  well 
on  moist  soils,  but  on  rich  upland  or  good  sandy  land  it 
grows  with  vigor.  It  deserves  a  place  on  every  farm,  as 
the  hay  is  excellent,  and  is  greedily  eaten  by  stock,  and  be- 
sides, the  yield  is  extremely  large.  Another  advantage  is 
that  the  seed  will  be  ripe  before  the  hay  turns  yellow,  so 
that  not  only  the  hay  will  be  saved,  but  a  large  amount  of 
seed  can  be  secured  ;  upon  a  barn  floor  enough  will  shatter 
out  to  supply  the  wants  of  most  farmers.  Or  if  the  farmer 
wishes  to  sell  the  seed,  he  can  cut  off  the  heads  with  a  cradle 
and  let  the  mower  follow  for  the  hay. 

Should  the  autumn  prove  a  wet  one,  a  second  crop  can  be 
cut,  but  if  there  is  not  sufficient  aftermath  to  justify  cutting 
do  not  pasture  it,  but  allow  it  to  grow  on  as  long  as  it  will, 
and  about  Christmas  it  will  turn  over  and  the  tops  turn  yel- 
low, all  prepared  for  the  hungry  stock,  and  it  will  continue 
to  sustain  them  until  other  grasses  take  its  place.  However, 
should  it  be  desired  to  use  it  for  hay  the  succeeding  year, 
the  stock  should  be  removed  about  the  middle  of  February. 

It  will  seed  in  the  fall  after  being  sown  in  the  spring, 
which  is  the  proper  time  to  sow  it.  Sow  two  bushels  per 
acre.  The  seed  is  very  light  and  chaffy.  It  is  a  tussock 
grass,  and  does  not  spread  from  the  roots,  consequently  the 
seed  must  be  depended  on  for  a  stand.  After  the  first  sow- 
ing, there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  seed,  as  the  yield 
is  large.  It  affords,  both  for  hay  and  pasture,  perhaps  more 
green  food  than  any  grass  we  have. 


(36) 


SORGHUM—  (Halpense.) 


Egyptian  Sugar  Cane,  as  its  proper  name  is,  is  a  daughter 
of  the  Nile,  where  it  grows  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  high.  So 
great  is  its  luxuriance  there  that  it  has  filled  all  the  upper 
Nile  so  that  a  canoe  cannot  be  driven  through  it.  Great 
Dumbers  of  cattle  and  wild  animals  resort  to  it,  and,  in  fact, 
it  is  the  chief  sustenance  of  ruminants  in  that  country. 

"When  young  it  is  very  tender  and  sweet,  the  pith  being 
full  of  sugary  juice.  The  leaves  are  as  large  as  corn  fodder, 
and  very  nutritious.  It  has  a  perennial  root,  and  so  vigor- 
ous that  when  once  planted  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  eradi- 
cate it.  So  care  must  be  taken  to  plant  it  where  it  is  not  in- 
tended to  be  disturbed.  The  roots  are  creeping  and  throw 
out  shoots  from  every  joint.  It  is  a  fine  fertilizer,  and 
sown  on  a  piece  of  poor  washed  land  will,  in  a  few  years, 
restore  it  to  its  pristine  fertility.  But  there  is  really  not 
much  difference  where  it  is  sown,  for  a  farmer  once  getting 
a  good  stand  will  not  want  to  destroy  it.  It  will  bear  cut- 
ting three  or  four  times  a  year,  and,  in  fact,  it  has  to  be 
done,  for  when  it  matures,  the  seed,  the  stem  and  leaves  are 
too  coarse  and  woody  for  use. 

The  ground  must  be  well  prepared  as  in  other  grasses, 
and  in  September,  the  earlier  the  better,  let  it  be  sown  one 
bushel  to  the  acre. 

It  can  be  propagated  also  by  the  roots  by  laying  off  the 
rows  each  way,  and  dropping  a  joint  of  the  root  two  feet 
apart  and  covering  with  a  drag. 

It  gives  the  earliest  pastures  we  have,  preceding  blue 
grass  or  clover  a  month.  Hogs  are  fond  of  the  roots,  and 
any  amount  of  rooting  in  it  will  not  injure  it.  In  fact,  it  is 
a  stick  tight.  It  not  only  thrives  well  on  bottoms,  but  it 
will  grow  just  as  well  on  upland,  and  though  poor  upland 
will  make  but  little  hay,  yet  it  makes  a  fine  pasture.  It 
disappears  in  the  winter  altogether,  but  the  first  warm 


(37) 

weather  brings  it  up,  and  it  grows  with  astonishing  rapidity. 
On  our  lands  and  in  our  climate  it  will  grow  from  five  to 
seven  feet  high,  while  in  South  Carolina  it  will  grow  twelve 
feet  high. 

For  soiling  purposes  it  is  not  equaled  by  any  grass  in  our 
knowledge,  as  it  can  be  cut  every  two  or  three  weeks. 

Many  persons  object  to  it  on  account  of  its  great  tenacity 
of  life,  matting  the  soil  in  every  direction  with  its  cane-like 
roots,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  it  will  spread  over  a  field, 
and  the  difficulty  of  eradicating  it.  But  these  very  objec- 
tions should  be  its  recommendation  to  owners  of  worn-out 
fields;  and  if  it  is  desired  to  destroy  it,  it  is  only  necessary 
to  pasture  it  closely  one  year,  and  then  in  the  fall  turn  the 
roots  up  with  a  big  plow  to  the  freezes  of  a  winter,  renew- 
ing the  breaking  up  once  or  twice  during  the  winter,  and 
then  cultivating  the  next  spring.  The  seeds  are  quite 
heavy,  and  weigh  thirty-five  pounds  to  the  bushel.  Every 
one  who  has  tried  it  recommends  it  to  the  public.  But 
some  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  partiality  of  friends, 
and  it  would  be  well  to  give  it  a  trial'  before  engaging  in  its 
culture  to  any  large  extent.  There  would,  however,  cer- 
tainly be  no  risk  in  sowing  it  upon  those  worn-out  hill  sides, 
so  many  of  which  form  an  unsightly  scar  upon  the  face  of 
nature  in  Tennessee — the  tokens  of  the  past. 

A  proximate  analysis  made  by  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture at  Washington  gives : 

Per  cent. 

Oil 2.26 

Wax 61 

Sugar 7.37 

Gum  and  Dextrine 5.14 

Cellulose , 25.1 

Amylaceous  cellulose 25.87 

Alkali  extract 15.58 

Albuminoid 13.18 

Ash 4.85 

Analysis  of  the  ash  of  the  Johnson  grass : 


(38) 

Per  cent. 

Potassium , 3.68 

Potassium  oxide 35.72 

Sodium 81 

Calcium  oxide 12.87 

Magnesium  oxide 0.73 

Sulphuric  acid 2.96 

Phosphoric  acid 10,44 

Silicic  acid 22.21 

Chlorine....  .,  4.58 


RED  CLOVER— (Trifolium  pratense.) 

This  valuable  forage 
plant  was  first  introduced 
into  England  in  1645,  dur- 
ing the  stormy  times  of 
Charles  I.,  and  rapidly  met 
with  favor  throughout  the 
kingdom.  It  properly  be- 
longs to  the  leguminous 
family,  which  includes  a 
considerable  number  of 
other  forage  plants  that  are 
called  artificial  grasses,  to 
distinguish  them  from  the 
true  or  natural  grasses 
called  graminece.  The  bo- 
tanic name  trifolium  comes 
from  two  latin  words,  ires  three,  and  folium,  a  leaf,  and  in 
England  it  is  often  called  trefoil.  It  may  always  be  known 
by  having  three  leaves  in  a  bunch,  and  the  flowers  in  dense, 
oblong  globular  heads. 

There  is  no  grass,  natural  or  artificial,  that  is  more  useful 
to  the  farmer  or  stock-grower  than  red  clover.  It  has  been 
styled,  with  some  show  of  reason,  the  corner-stone  of  agri- 


(39) 

culture,  and  this  not  only  on  account  of  its  vigorous  vitality, 
but  because  it  adapts  itself  to  a  great  variety  of  soils.  It  is 
widely  diffused,  and  abounds  in  every  part  of  Europe,  in 
North  America,  and  even  in  Siberia.  It  furnishes  an  im- 
mense amount  of  grazing,  yields  an  abundance  of  nutritious 
hay,  and  is  a  profitable  crop,  considered  with  reference  to 
the  seed  alone.  But  beyond  all  these,  it  acts  as  a  vigorous 
ameliorator  of  the  soil,  increasing  more  than  any  other 
forage  plant  the  amount  of  available  nitrogen,  and  so  be- 
comes an  important  agent  in  keeping  up  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  soil,  and  increasing  the  yield  of  o.ther  crops. 

SOILS   ADAPTED   TO   ITS   GROWTH. 

Red  clover  is  a  biennial  plai.t,  and  under  judicious  tillage 
may  be  made  a  perennial,  and  is  specially  adapted  to  argil- 
laceous soils,  but  it  will  grow  well  upon  sandy  soils,  when 
a  "catch7'  is  secured,  by  the  application  of  a  top-dressing  of 
gypsum  or  barn-yard  manure.  I  have  seen  it  growing  with 
vigor  upon  the  feldspathic  soils  of  Johnson  county,  upon 
the  sandstone  soils  of  the  Cumberland  mountain,  and  upon 
the  sandy  loams  of  West  Tennessee,  but  it  finds  a  more  con- 
genial soil  in  the  clayey  lands  of  the  valley  of  East  Ten- 
uessee,  on  the  red  soils  of  the  Highland  Rim,  and  on  the 
limestone  loams  of  the  Central  Basin. 

The  clayey  lands  of  West  Tennessee  have  no  superior  for 
the  production  of  clover.  It  often  grows  upon  these  lands 
from  four  to  five  feet  in  height,  and  forms  a  mat,  when  it 
falls,  of  great  density  and  thickness.  As  much  as  four  tons 
of  clover  hay  have  been  taken  from  a  single  acre.  Probably 
three-fourths  of  the  lands  in  Tennessee  will  grow  clover  re- 
muneratively, and  of  the  soils  which  will  not,  a  large  por- 
tion is  included  in  the  old  gullied  fields  that  constitute  the 
shame  and  mark  the  thriftlessness  of  too  many  of  the 
farmers.  It  may  be  set  down  as  an  infallible  rule  in  the 
State  of  Tennessee  that  good  farming  and  abundant  clover- 
ing  go  together. 


(40) 

SOWING   CLOVER. 

Clover  may  be  sown  in  the  latitude  of  Tennessee  upon 
wheat,  rye,  or  oat  fields,  or  alone.  Instances  have  been  re- 
ported to  me  where  a  splendid  stand  was  obtained  by  sow- 
ing after  cultivators  in  the  last  working  of  corn  in  July. 
This  is  unusual,  however.  So  is  fall  sowing.  The  best 
time  to  sow  is  from  the  first  of  January  until  the  first  of 
April.  If  sown  in  January  or  February,  the  seed  ought  to 
be  sown  upon  snow.  This  is  not  only  convenient  in  ena- 
bling one  to  distribute  the  seed  evenly  over  the  land,  but 
the  gradual  melting  of  the  snow,  and  the  slight  freezes,  bury 
the  seed  just  deep  enough  to  ensure  rapid  germination  when 
the  warm  days  of  March  come  on.  For  the  same  reason, 
if  sown  in  March,  the  seed  ought  to  be  sown  when  the 
ground  is  slightly  crusted  by  a  freeze.  If  the  sowing  is  de- 
ferred until  too  late  for  frosty  nights,  the  land  should  be 
well  harrowed  and  the  seed  sown  immediately  after  the  har- 
row. It  will  hasten  germination  and  cause  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  seed  to  grow,  to  harrow  the  land  after  the  seed  is 
sown.  With  oats,  the  seeds  should  be  sown  after  the  last 
harrowing  or  brushing,  with  a  slight  after- brushing  to  cover 
them. 

A  better  stand  of  clover,  with  less  seed,  may  always  be 
secured  by  sowing  upon  land  prepared  for  clover  alone.  I 
have  often  obtained  an  excellent  catch  upon  "galled?' 
places  by  breaking  the  land  well,  and  sowing  the  seed  with- 
out any  previous  or  after  harrowing. 

Upon  good,  iresh,  rich  soils,  where  clover  has  not  pre- 
viously grown,  one  bushel  for  eight  acres  will  be  sufficient. 
If  the  soil  is  thin  and  unproductive,  one  bushel  for  six  acres 
ought  to  be  sown.  If  the  land  has  been  regularly  rotated 
witli  clover,  one- half  the  quantity  of  seed  mentioned  above 
will  suffice,  sometimes  much  less. 

The  frequent  failure  to  secure  a  good  stand  of  clover  ad- 
monishes the  farmers  of  the  State  to  exercise  more  care  in 


(41) 

the  seeding.  When  sown  late  in  the  spring  many  of  the 
seeds  sprout,  and  are  killed  by  dry  weather.  It  would  be 
all  the  better  if  the  clover  seed  could  be  buried  a  half-inch 
(or  even  au  inch  on  loose  soils)  beneath  the  surface  after  the 
middle  of  March. 

GROWTH   AND   MANURE. 

Red  clover  rarely  makes  much  growth  the  first  season  if 
sown  with  grain.  Should  the  weather  be  very  seasonable 
after  harvest,  and  the  land  fertile,  it  will  sometimes  attain 
the  height  of  thirty  inches  and  put  out  blooms,  making  an 
excellent  fall  pasture.  When  sown  alone  it  will  always 
blossom  in  August. 

As  soon  as  it  begins  to  grow,  in  early  spring,  an  applica- 
tion of  two  bushels  of  gypsum  or  land  plaster,  upon 
granitic  or  sandy  soils,  is  absolutely  necessary  to  get  a  good 
growth. 

Baron  Liebig,  after  numerous  experiments  made  with 
gypsum  upon  clover,  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  action 
of  gypsum  is  very  complex;  that  it  indeed  promotes  the 
distribution  of  both  magnesia  and  potash  in  the  soil.  He 
thinks  that  gypsum  exercises  a  chemical  action  upon  the 
soil,  which  extends  to  any  depth,  and  that  in  consequence 
of  the  chemical  and  mechanical  modification  of  the  earth, 
particles  of  certain  nutritive  elements  become  accessible  to 
and  available  for  the  clover  plant,  which  were  not  so  before. 

Though  having  my  mind  constantly  directed  to  this  point, 
I  have  rarely  found  an  application  of  gypsum  beneficial 
upon  clayey  loams,  but  its  effects  are  very  apparent  on 
strong  limestone  soils,  such  as  are  found  in  the  Central 
Basin.  Red  clover  has  two  growing  seasons.  It  makes  its 
most  vigorous  growth  from  the  1st  of  April  until  the  15th 
of  June,  beginning  to  bloom  usually  in  the  central  parts  of 
the  State  about  the  15th  of  May,  and  attaining  its  full  in- 
florescence about  the  1st  of  June.  After  this,  unless  de- 
pastured by  stock  or  cut  for  hay,  the  heads  begin  to  dry  up, 


(42) 

and  stems  and  leaves  begin  to  fall,  forming  a  mat  upon  the 
land.  Sometimes  this  mat  is  so  thick  as  to  catch  and  con- 
centrate the  heats  of  summer  to  such  a  degree  as  to  scald 
the  roots  and  destroy  the  clover.  Usually  it  is  best  after 
clover  has  attained  its  full  bloom,  either  to  cut  it  for  hay  or 
pasture  with  stock  until  about  the  first  of  July.  When  the 
stock  is  removed,  or  the  clover  hay  cured  and  taken  off,  and 
there  is  rain  enough,  a  second  crop  will  spring  up  from  the 
roots.  This  second  crop  is  the  most  valuable  for  seed,  the 
seed  maturing  about  the  last  of  August,  and  sooner,  if  there 
be  copious  rains.  To  make  the  most  abundant  yield  of  clo- 
ver for  grazing,  it  should  be  allowed  to  grow  all  it  will,  but 
never  let  it  make  seed,  always  grazing  it  down  when  in  full 
bloom.  When  grazed  down,  take  off  the  stock  until  it 
blooms  again.  Several  successive  crops  may  thus  be  made 
during  the  summer.  The  crop  of  August  is  unfit  for  graz- 
ing, the  large  quantity  of  seed  having  the  effect  of  salivat- 
ing stock  to  such  a  degree  as  to  cause  them  to  lose  flesh. 

It  is  a  fact,  well  attested  by  English  writers,  and  by  ob- 
servant farmers  of  this  country,  that  when  clover  has  been 
frequently  sown  upon  the  same  land,  it  not  only  fails  to  pro- 
duce a  heavy  crop,  but  fails  to  appear  at  all.  The  land  is 
then  said  to  be  "  clover-sick."  The  remedy  for  this  is  by 
extending  the  number  of  crops  in  the  scale  of  rotation,  so 
that  clover  will  not  come  so  often  upon  the  same  laud.  By 
Liebig,  clover-sick  land  is  supposed  to  be  caused  by  the  roots 
of  clover  impoverishing  the  subsoil. 

Clover  has  no  superior  as  a  grazing  plant.  When  in  full 
vigor  and  bloom,  it  will  carry  more  cattle  and  sheep  per 
acre  than  blue  grass,  Herd's  grass,  or  orchard  grass.  After 
it  has  been  grazed  to  the  earth,  a  few  showery  days  with 
warm  suns  will  cause  it  to  spring  up  into  renewed  vitality, 
ready  again  to  furnish  its  succulent  herbage  to  domestic 
animals.  Though  very  nutritious  and  highly  relished  by 
cattle,  it  often  produces  a  dangerous  swelling  called  hoven, 
from  which  many  cows  die.  When  first  turned  upon 


(43) 

cattle  should  only  be  allowed  to  graze  for  an  hour  or  two, 
and  then  be  driven  off  for  the  remainder  of  the  day,  grad- 
ually increasing  the  time  of  grazing,  until  they  become  less 
voracious  in  their  appetites,  never  permitting  them  to  run 
upon  clover  when  wet.  Clover  made  wet  by  a  rain  at  mid- 
day is  more  likely  to  produce  hoven  than  when  wet  by  dew. 
This  is  because  when  wet  by  rain  at  midday,  or  after  the 
stalks  and  leaves  are  heated  by  the  sun,  when  taken  into  the 
stomach  of  a  cow,  this  heat  generates  fermentation  much 
sooner  than  when  the  herbage  is  cool,  though  wet  with  the 
morning  dew.  Cattle  are  more  easily  affected  by  clover 
than  horses,  because  being  ruminants,  they  take  in  the  clover 
rapidly,  filling  the  stomach  at  once,  without  chewing. 
Digestion  is  for  the  time  checked,  and  a  rapid  fermentation 
sets  in.  The  remedy  found  most  effective  for  hoven  is  to 
stick  a  sharp  pointed  knife  about  six  inches  in  front  of  the 
hip,  to  the  left  side  of  the  backbone,  and  far  enough  from 
it  to  miss  the  spinal  protuberances,  and  in  the  thinest  part 
of  the  flank.  A  cow  should  never  be  run  when  affected 
with  hoven,  as  this  treatment  only  intensifies  the  pain  with- 
out affording  relief. 

Stock  should  never  be  turned  upon  clover  until  it  blooms. 
The  practice  of  many  of  our  farmers,  to  turn  all  the  stock 
upon  a  clover  field  early  in  April,  is  very  destructive.  The 
crown  of  the  clover  is  eaten  out,  causing  it  to  perish.  The 
tread  of  heavy  cattle  has  the  same  effect. 

As  a  soiling  crop  red  clover  is  excelled  by  no  crop  grown 
within  the  State.  The  practice  of  soiling  in  thickly  settled 
communities  is  one  much  commended  by  agricultural 
writers.  An  half-acre  of  clover  will  supply  one  cow 
throughout  the  months  of  June,  July  and  August,  if  cut  off 
and  fed  in  a  stall,  while  twice  the  amount  in  pasture,  ac- 
cording to  some  English  experimenters,  will  barely  subsist 
a  cow  during  the  same  period,  and  this  will  depend,  of 
course,  upon  the  luxuriance  of  the  growth.  Soiling  (that 
is  cutting  the  grass  and  feeding  it  green)  is  a  very  desirable 


(44) 

practice,  near  small  towns,  where  many  persons  own  small 
lots,  and  desire  to  keep  a  milch  cow.  No  other  grass,  per- 
haps, will  produce  a  larger  flow  of  milk. 

NUTRITIVE   VALUE   AND   CONSTITUENT    ELEMENTS   OP 
CLOVER. 

The  nutritive  value  of  clover  was  long  known  by  feeders 
before  chemical  research  demonstrated  the  same  fact.  It 
contains,  when  cut  in  bloom,  nearly  four  per  cent,  more 
nitrogenous  food  than  timothy,  and  four  and  a  half  per  cent, 
more  than  blue  grass.  According  to  Professors  Wolff  and 
Knop,  in  its  green  state  it  contains  800  parts  in  1,000  of 
water,  about  100  parts  more  than  timothy,  and  37  parts  in. 
1,000  of  albuminoids  or  flesh  formers.  When  made  into 
hay,  cut  when  in  bloom,  and  well  cured,  red  clover  contains 
134  parts  in  1,000  of  albuminoids,  but  cut  when  fully  ripe 
only  94  parts.  The  albuminoids  contain  about  16  per  cent, 
of  nitrogen.  Timothy  hay  has  9.7  per  cent,  of  flesh-form- 
ing matter,  and  therefore  contains  less  nitrogen,  in  the  pro- 
portion of  15  to  21,  than  clover  hay.  Barley  has  10  per 
cent,  of  albuminoids,  Indian  corn  10.7,  rye  11,  oats  12, 
clover  13.4  per  cent.,  so  that  it  appears  clover  hay  will  fur- 
nish more  muscle-producing  or  nitrogenous  food  than  either 
corn,  rye,  oats,  or  timothy,  which  gives  strength  to  the  state- 
ments of  many  practical  farmers,  that  a  crop  can  be  made 
by  feeding  clover  hay  alone  to  the  working  animals,  and 
they  will  keep  up  under  it. 

Professor  Way  gives  the  following  analysis  of  the  red 

clover  when  green  : 

Per  cent. 

Water 81. 

Albuminoids  4.27 

Fatty  matter 69 

Heat  producing 8.45 

Woody  fibre  3.76 

Ash 1.82 

One  hundred  pounds  dried  at  212  F.,  gives  the  following: 


(45) 

Per  cent. 

Albuminoids  or  flesh-formers 22.55 

Fatty  matter 3.67 

Heat-producers  (starch,  sugar,  gum,  etc.) 44.47 

Woody  fibre 19.75 

Ash 9.56 

The  proportion  of  fat  in  the  various  vegetable  products  is 
given  in  the  following  table,  taken  from  Prof.  S.  W.  John- 
son's "  How  Crops  Grow  "  : 

Fat.  Fat. 

Meadow  grass 0.8  per  cent.  Turnip 0.1  per  cent. 

Red  Clover  (green) 0.7  per  cent.  Wheat  kernel 1.6  per  cent. 

Meadow  hay 3.0  per  cent.  Oat  kernel 1.6  per  cent. 

Clover  hay 3.2  percent.  Indian  corn 7.0  percent. 

Wheat  straw 1.5  per  cent.  Pea  3.0  per  cent. 

Oat  straw 2  0  per  cent.  Cotton  seed 34.    percent. 

Wheat  bran 1.5  per  cent.  Flax  seed 34.    percent. 

Potato,  Irish 0.3  per  cent. 

It  appears  from  this  table  that  clover  hay  has  not  quite 
one-half  the  fat  of  Indian  corn,  but  having  more  albumin- 
oids it  has  nearly  three  per  cent,  more  nitrogenous  food. 
Both  should  be  fed  together,  the  clover  to  give  muscle  and 
the  corn  to  give  fat.  It  also  appears  that  the  clover  hay  is 
richer  in  fat  than  meadow  hay. 

EFFECTS  OF  CLOVER  UPON  SOILS — MANURE  FOR. 

Numerous  facts  have  taught  the  farmers  of  every  country 
where  agriculture  has  flourished,  that  in  many  cases  the  value 
of  the  after  crop  depends  upon  the  preceding  crop.  In  other 
words,  a  proper  rotation  is  necessary  antecedent  to  successful 
farming.  The  cultivation  of  some  crop  with  extensive  root 
ramifications  will  prepare  the  soil  for  the  subsequent  growth 
of  a  cereal.  But  the  farmer  should  not  deceive  himself. 
JEvery  crop  takes  away  a  part  of  the  available  plant- food, 
and  the  field  has  not  increased  in  fertility,  but  the  plant- food 
has  been  made  more  rigidly  effective  for  the  production  of  a 
crop.  "  The  physical  and  chemical  condition  of  the  fields 
has  been  improved,  but  the  chemical  store  has  been  re- 
duced." "  All  plants,"  says  Liebig,  "  without  exception, 


(46) 

exhaust  the  soil,  each  of  them  in  its  own  way,  of  the  condi- 
tions for  their  reproduction." 

A  field,  then,  which  produces  more  kindly  after  rotation, 
is  not  necessarily  more  fertile,  but  is  in  better  physical  con- 
dition. It  has  already  been  mentioned,  that  the  mechanical 
effects  of  clover  upon  soils  is  not  the  least  among  its  valua- 
ble properties.  The  reaction  rendered  possible  by  the  pen- 
etration into  the  soil  of  the  long  tap-roots,  and  the  effect  of 
the  dense  shade  upon  the  land  have  a  tendency  to  increase 
the  productiveness,  but  may  not  add  to  the  fertility  of  the 
soil. 

Guano  is  found,  on  clayey  soils,  to  largely  increase  the 
growth  of  clover.  When  used  on  a  wheat  field  seeded  to 
clover  in  early  spring,  a  "  catch  "  of  clover  will  be  secured 
on  the  thinnest  spots,  and  grow  luxuriantly.  The  greatest 
benefits  from  an  application  of  guano  upon  wheat  are  often 
obtained  in  this  way.  A  good  stand  of  clover,  however 
secured,  is  the  best  possible  preparation  of  land  for  a  suc- 
ceeding crop  of  wheat.  And  this  arises,  not  only  from  the 
available  nitrogen  which  a  clover  crop  supplies,  but  from 
the  deep  and  thorough  subsoiling  which  is  effected  by  the 
deep,  penetrating  tap-roots  of  the  clover.  They  often  de- 
scend to  the  depth  of  four  feet  in  search  of  food,  while  its 
broad  leaves  "  absorb  carbon  from  the  atmosphere,  chang- 
ing it  into  solid  matter,  causing  elements  in  the  soil  to  as- 
sume organic  forms,  rendering  them  more  available  as 
food  for  other  crops."  If  the  soil  be  robbed  of  its  fertility, 
the  deficient  elements  must  be  added  before  clover  will 
"take." 

The  best  method  of  pasturing  is  to  wait  until  about  the 
last  of  May,  when  the  clover  is  in  bloom,  then  turn  on  stock 
and  pasture  during  the  months  of  June  and  July,  alternating 
every  two  weeks  with  other  clover  fields,  if  possible,  and 
turning  off  the  stock  the  first  of  August,  and  allowing  the 
second  crop  to  come  forward  for  seed. 


(47) 

SAVING  CLOVER  HAY. 

The  precise  period  of  mowing  clover  for  hay  is  a  question 
about  which  there  has  been  much  discussion.  All  will  agree 
that  it  should  be  mowed  at  the  time  when  the  nutritive  ele- 
ments— those  elements  which  give  strength  and  produce 
flesh — are  at  their  maximum.  Those  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  feeding  stock  find  that  clover  cut  about  the  time  of  full 
bloom,  when  a  few  of  the  seeds  begin  to  dry  up,  and  just  as 
the  reproductive  functions  are  being  brought  into  play  for 
the  maturing  of  seed,  will,  pound  for  pound,  produce  more 
fat  and  muscle  than  that  cut  at  any  other  time.  The  only 
art  in  curing  hay  is  to  retain  as  many  of  the  life-giving  con- 
stituents in  it  as  possible,  or  to  preserve  it  as  near  as  practi- 
cable in  the  same  condition  in  which  it  is  cut,  with  the  water 
only  abstracted. 

The  plan  generally  adopted  is  to  mow  the  clover  in  the 
morning  and  let  it  lie  in  the  sun  several  hours  until  a  wisp 
taken  up  and  twisted  will  show  no  exudation  of  moisture. 
It  is  then  thrown  up  into  small  cocks,  say  four  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  four  feet  high.  In  these,  unless  there  is  appear- 
ance of  rain,  it  is  allowed  to  remain  for  a  day  or  two,  when 
it  may  be  hauled  to  the  barn  and  stored  away  without  danger 
of  damage.  Care  should  be  taken  not  to  let  the  dew  fall 
upon  it  as  it  lies  scattered  by  the  mower.  The  dew  of  one 
single  night  will  blacken  the  leaves  and  destroy  the  aroma 
for  which  good  clover  hay  is  so  much  prized. 

Another  plan  practiced  is  to  mow  it  and  let  it  lie  just  long 
enough  in  the  sun  to  wilt,  and  then  wagon  it  to  an  open 
house  and  lay  it  upon  beams  or  tier-poles,  where  it  can  re- 
ceive the  free  action  of  the  air.  After  a  few  days  it  may  be 
packed  down  without  any  danger  of  fermenting.  Cured  in 
this  way,  in  the  shade,  it  retains  its  green  color,  is  fragrant, 
and  makes  a  most  excellent  feed.  The  only  objection  to 
this  plan  is  the  great  amount  of  room  under  cover  required 
for  curing,  and  the  additional  burthen  of  hauling  while 
green. 


(48) 

Another  plan  is  to  haul  it  up  as  soon  as  it  wilts,  using 
about  half  a  bushel  of  salt  to  the  cured  ton  of  hay.  A  layer 
a  foot  or  more  in  thickness  may  be  laid  down,  over  which 
salt  is  scattered  pretty  freely,  then  another  layer  and  salt, 
continuing  to  repeat  the  operation  until  the  space  set  apart 
for  hay  is  filled.  A  rapid  fermentation  will  ensue,  and  the 
hay  will  be  cured  by  the  heat  of  this  fermentation,  the  salt 
acting  as  a  preventive  against  putrefaction.  Instead  of 
salt,  layers  of  wheat  straw  can  be  substituted.  By  using 
straw  the  clover  may  be  put  up  in  the  field.  The  quantity 
of  straw  to  be  used  in  the  rick  or  stack  depends  upon  the 
moisture  in  the  clover — the  greener  the  clover  the  thicker 
should  be  the  straw.  The  straw  will  act  as  an  absorbent, 
and  during  the  process  will  itself  be  greatly  increased  in 
value  as  food  for  stock,  having  imparted  to  it  the  flavor  and 
aroma  of  the  clover  plant.  All  the  wheat  straw  on  a  farm 
could  be  utilized  in  this  way,  and  the  amount  of  manure  in 
the  farmer's  barn  largely  increased. 

Still  another  method  of  curing  clover  hay  is  the  one  prac- 
ticed in  Ireland.  The  Irish  Farmers'  Journal,  in  giving  an 
account  of  this  process  of  curing  clover  hay,  says : 

"  The  clover  intended  for  hay  is  mown  and  left  to  lie  in 
the  swath  until  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  following 
day  to  dry.  Of  course  these  swaths  are  twelve  or  eighteen 
inches  thick.  They  are  then  raked  together  in  small  shocks 
which  are  afterwards  made  into  larger  ones,  such  as  would 
require  six  or  eight  horses  to  draw.  Two  or  more  men  are 
kept  upon  the  large  ones  tramping  them  down,  so  as  to  make 
them  more  compact  and  induce  a  more  speedy  fermenta- 
tion. If  the  weather  is  warm,  fermentation  will  begin  in 
a  few  hours,  as  will  be  known  by  the  honey-like  smell. 
When  a  proper  fermentation  has  begun,  the  cocks,  on  being 
opened,  will  appear  brownish  and  may  be  spread.  After 
drying  it  may  be  carried  to  the  hay  loft  without  any  danger 
of  a  second  fermentation." 


(49) 

It  should  always  be  borne  in  mind  that  clover  hay  will 
not  shed  rain.  When  stacked  out  in  the  field,  it  should 
either  be  thatched  or  have  a  thick  top-covering  of  wheat 
straw  or  other  hay.  The  tedder  is  thought  by  many  to  be 
indispensable  in  saving  good  clover  hay.  Unquestionably 
it  is  of  great  service,  and  the  hay  made  by  the  use  of  the 
tedder  in  dry,  hot  weather,  is  superior  to  that  made  without; 
but  good  hay  can  be  and  is  made  by  many  farmers  who 
never  saw  a  tedder.  Clover  hay  is  more  difficult  to  cure 
than  hay  from  any  of  the  real  grasses,  and  this  -arises  from 
the  fact  that  it  contains  more  water  than  other  grasses  in 
the  proportion  of  8  to  7.  For  this  reason  also,  it  is  more 
difficult  to  keep,  being  more  liable  to  heat  in  the  mow.  It 
will  not  bear  handling  or  transportation,  and  while  it  will 
always  be  a  favorite  hay  for  home  consumption,  it  will 
never  be  valuable  for  market  purposes.  For  horses  good 
grass  hay  is  probably  better  than  clover,  because  it  is  more 
digestible,  and  is  not  so  liable  to  produce  colic.  On  the 
other  hand,  clover  is  a  superior  hay  for  cattle,  producing  in 
milk  cows  a  fine  flow  of  milk. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  analyses  made  by 
Wolff,  Koop  and  Way,  will  exhibit  the  comparative  value 
of  clover  and  grass  hays: 


^ 

7 

; 

t 

CD    & 

•  r* 

^•*   • 

,£l 

u 

SUBSTANCE. 

1 

C   "*""' 

S     02 

,.?  ^ 

OJ 
*& 

9 

£ 

c 

"3 

•33 

a^3 

3 

o. 

aJ 

Red  clover,  in  bloom... 

16.7 

77.1 

6.2 

13.4 

29.9 

35.8 

3.2 

Red         ''      ripe 

16  7 

77  7 

56 

94 

20  3 

480 

20 

White    " 

167 

748 

85 

149 

343 

*2o  6 

35 

Alsike    "      in  bloom... 

16.7 

75.0 

8.3 

15.3 

392 

30.5 

3.3 

Alsike    "      ripe 

167 

783 

50 

102 

23  1 

450 

25 

Orchard  grass  

Timothy 

14.3 
143 

81.1 
81  2 

4.6 
4  5 

11.6 

97 

40.7 

48  8 

28.9 

2.7 
30 

Kentucky  blue  grass.... 

14.3 

80.6 

51 

89 

39.1 

3.1 

(50) 

SAVING   CLOVEK   SEED. 

It  has  often  been  a  matter  of  surprise  that  Tennessee 
farmers  have  not  more  generally  saved  their  clover  seed. 
The  amount  of  money  yearly  paid  out  lor  an  article  which 
is  now  considered  a  prime  necessity  to  good  farming,  is  er- 
roneous. Were  the  lands  of  Tennessee  incapable  of  pro- 
ducing clover  seed,  there  would  be  reason  for  this  expendi- 
ture. In  point  of  fact,  however,  no  section  of  the  Union 
will  produce,  acre  for  acre,  a  larger  quantity  of  clover  seed. 
Three  bushels  per  acre  have  often  been  gathered,  although 
the  usual  average  is  about  one  and  a  half  bushels. 

As  the  first  crop  of  clover,  coming  to  maturity  in  June, 
will  not  perfect  its  seed,  it  is  necessary  to  take  off  the  first 
crop,  either  by  feeding  or  by  mowing  for  hay,  and  rely  for 
the  seed  upon  the  after  crop.  The  quantity  of  seed  of  this 
crop  will  depend  much  upon  the  weather.  Should  there 
be  much  rain  or  heavy  winds,  the  yield  of  seed  will  be 
small,  but  when  the  weather  has  been  fine  and  calm,  and 
the  seed  free  from  dock  or  other  noxious  seeds,  the  crop 
will  be  found  as  remunerative  as  any  other  grown  by  the 
farmer.  A  bushel  of  clover  seed  will  weigh  usually  about 
sixty-four  pounds,  though  sixty  pounds  is  the  standard 
bushel  in  market. 

The  second  crop  of  clover  should  be  allowed  to  stand 
until  the  husks  have  become  quite  brown,  and  the  seeds  have 
passed  the  milky  state.  It  should  then  be  mowed  and  per- 
mitted to  lie  upon  the  ground  until  it  is  well  cured.  Alter 
it  is  cured  rake  it  up  into  swaths.  Rain  will  rather  benefit 
than  injure  it,  making  it  easier  to  separate  the  heads  from 
the  haulm,  which  is  done  by  passing  through  an  ordinary 
wheat  separator.  A  clover  huller  attachment  is  adjusted 
to  the  separator  below  the  vibrator,  which  hulls  the  seeds, 
and  they  are  separated  from  the  chaff  by  the  fan,  care  being 
taken  to  shut  off  as  much  air  as  possible  by  closing  the  slid- 
ing doors. 


(51) 

The  crop  of  seed  can  be  largely  increased  by  mowing  or 
feeding  off  the  first  crop  of  clover  about  the  first  of  June, 
and  then  top-dressing  with  stable  manure.  The  earlier  the 
first  crop  is  cut  the  larger  will  be  the  crop  of  seed.  By 
treating  the  clover  fields  in  this  way,  as  much  as  three  bush- 
els of  seed  have  been  obtained  from  an  acre.  Uplands  will 
yield  more  seed  than  bottom  lands,  but  they  should  be  en- 
riched by  a  liberal  application  of  manure.  About  the  first 
of  September  is  the  time  to  mow  for  seed,  and  the  straw  will 
thresh  all  the  better  for  being  exposed  to  the  weather  for 
three  weeks.  The  threshing  is  usually  done  in  the  field, 
though  the  haulm  may  be  hauled  up  after  being  thoroughly 
dry,  and  stacked  with  a  good  straw  covering,  or  else  stored 
away  under  shelter  on  a  good  tight  floor  until  it  suits  the 
convenience  of  the  farmer  to  thresh.  Care  should  be  taken 
not  to  run  over  or  tramp  upon  the  clover  after  it  is  dried, 
as  many  seeds  are  thus  shelled  out  and  lost.  The  better 
plan  is  to  haul  to  the  thresher  just  as  soon  as  the  straw  i« 
in  a  proper  condition  to  thresh.  This  will  save  the  trouble 
and  expense  of  stacking. 

Some  farmers  prefer  to  sow  in  the  chaff,  believing  that  a 
better  stand  of  clover  is  thus  secured.  Usually  about  thirty 
bushels  in  the  chaff  are  considered  equivalent  to  one  of 
cleaned  seed.  Of  course  this  will  depend  greatly  upon  the 
yield  of  seed,  and  experiments  ought  to  be  made  to  deter- 
mine the  relative  amount  to  sow  when  in  chaff. 

CLOVER   AS   A    PREPARATORY  CROP   FOR   WHEAT. 

No  question  at  the  present  day  pertaining  to  agriculture 
is  more  deeply  interesting  to  the  farmers  of  Tennessee  than 
how  to  increase  the  yield  of  the  wheat  crop  per  acre,  for 
upon  this  depends  the  profits  of  this  standard  crop,  one 
probably  more  generally  grown  in  the  State  than  any  other. 
It  has  long  been  noted  that  a  soil  well  suited  to  clover  is 
generally  well  adapted  to  wheat,  but  not  until  the  painstak* 
ing  investigations  of  Dr.  Yoelcker,  of  England,  was  the 


(52) 

fact  established  that  the  clover  plant,  hy  increasing  the 
amount  of  available  nitrogen  in  the  surface  soil,  is  the  very- 
best  forerunner  for  wheat,  unlocking,  as  it  were,  the  ele- 
ments in  the  soil  necessary  to  a  full  and  perfect  development 
of  the  wheat  crop. 

Prof.  Way  has  established  the  fact  that  the  carbonate  of 
ammonia  of  rain-water  and  of  manures  are  so  absorbed  and 
so  firmly  fixed  by  the  soil  that  no  free  ammonia  can  be  pres- 
ent in  it.  Neither  pure  nor  carbonic  acid  water  can  extract 
this  fixed  ammonia  from  the  soil.  It  must  be  extracted  by 
the  roots  of  plants.  A  plant,  therefore,  with  extensive  root 
ramifications,  such  as  clover,  will  extract  a  much  larger 
quantity  than  those  plants  with  feebler  roots.  The  clover 
roots  bring  this  ammonia  or  nitrogen  to  the  surface,  and  on 
their  decay  these  nitrogenous  matters  are  converted  into  ni- 
trates in  which  the  wheat  plant  finds  a  most  congenial'food. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  leaves  formed  by  clover  contain  a 
large  amount  of  nitrogenous  matter,  and  these  are  dropped 
upon  Ihe  surface^  increasing  the  amount  of  nitrogen  availa- 
ble for  wheat  or  other  crops. 


ALSIKE  CLOVER—  (Trifolium  hybridum.) 

This  species  of  clover  was  introduced  into  England  from 
Sweden,  hence  it  is  sometimes  called  Swedish  clover.  It 
gets  the  name  Alsike  from  the  parish  of  Alsike,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Upland.  It  is  a  perrennial  found  wild  throughout 
many  parts  of  Sweden,  Norway  and  Finland. 

Alsike  clover,  as  compared  with  common  red  clover,  has 
a  slf  nderer  stalk,  narrower  leaf,  and  paler  colored  flowers 
and  foliage.  The  flower  stalks  are  longer,  and  the  blossoms 
more  fragrant  and  sweeter  to  the  taste.  When  first  open, 
the  blooms  are  but  faintly  tinged  with  pink,  subsequently 
they  deepen  into  a  pale  red,  and  stand  up.  When  tine  pe- 


(53) 

riod  of  flowering  passes  the  heads  droop  and  turn  brown. 
The  seed  pods  contain  three  or  four  seeds,  which  are  kidney- 
shaped,  and  from  dark  green  to  violet  color,  and  consider- 
ably smaller  than  the  seeds  of  red  clover. 

This  clover  does  not  make  much  growth  the  first  year, 
and  attains  full  growth  only  in  its  third  year.  It  yields 
less  than  the  red  clover,  and  has  but  little  or  no  aftermath. 
It  is  hardier  and  sweeter  than  red  clover,  and  being  a  pe- 
rennial, is  more  lasting,  and  it  makes  a  finer  hay. 

Wherever  it  has  been  tried,  experience  has  taught  that  it 
is  best  to  seed  it  down  with  red  clover,  or  some  grass,  prefer- 
ably orchard  grass,  for  the  reasons  that  it  does  not  occupy 
the  ground  the  first  year,  and  is  liable  to  fall  and  lodge 
badly  if  sown  alone.  I  have  noticed  that  it  is  much  fre- 
quented by  bees.  It  does  not  stand  the  long  dry  summers 
of  our  latitude  well,  but  seems  to  like  cool,  moist  regions. 

As  compared  with  red  clover,  the  hay  is  richer  by  two 
per  cent,  in  flesh  formers — both  cut  in  bloom.  The  analyses 
of  both,  as  given  by  Professors  Wolff  and  Knop,  show: 

Red  clover : 

Flesh  formers , 13.4 

Heat  producing  substances 29.9 

Crude  fibre , 35.8 

Fat 3.2 

Ash , 6.2 

Alsike : 

Flesh  formers 15.3 

Heat  producing  substances 29.2 

Crude  fibre 30.5 

Fat 3.3 

Ash 8.3 

The  great  difference  in  the  amount  of  crude  fibre  is  no- 
ticeable, and  shows  decidedly  in  favor  of  Alsike  clover. 


(54) 

SAPLING  RED  CLOVER— (Trifolium  ereclum.) 

This  is  precisely  the  same  plant  as  the  common  red  clover, 
and  is  used  in  the  same  manner  and  for  the  same  purposes. 
The  only  difference  in  it  is,  that  the  stems  being  stouter,  it 
is  not  liable  to  lodge,  but  stand  erect,  and  so  be  in  a  better 
condition  to  mow,  and  admits  the  sun  to  its  roots  better. 
As  to  which  may  be  preferable  is  a  mere  matter  of  taste  or 
prejudice.  Either  is  good,  the  sapling  clover  being  about 
two  weeks  later. 


CRIMSON  CLOVES— (Trifolium  inearnatum.) 

This  is  an  annual,  presenting  a  beautiful  crimson  flower 
when  in  bloom.  It  is  principally  valuable  as  a  green  food, 
though  the  hay  is  thought  to  be  equal  or  superior  to  that 
made  of  red  clover,  but  being  an  annual  it  interferes  more 
with  the  operations  of  the  farm,  it  being  necessary  to  sow  it 
as  a  separate  crop. 

An  analysis  of  the  hay  cut  in  bloom,  as  made  by  Wolff 
and  Knop,  shows: 

Flesh  formers 12.2 

Heating  properties 30.1 

Crude  fibre 33.8 

Fat 3.0 

Ash 7.2 

It  is  said  to  be  earlier  than  lucerne  or  the  common  red 
clover.  It  may  be  sown  upon  wheat  or  grain  stubble  in  the 
fell,  the  land  being  simply  harrowed  and  the  seed  sown. 

Few  things,  it  is  said,  in  the  vegetable  world,  presents  a 
more  beautiful  sight  than  a  field  of  crimson  clover  in  full 
bloom.  It  is  not  grown  to  any  extent  in  this  State,  a  few 
bunches  appearing  sometimes  in  fields  with  other  clover. 
Its  chief  value  is  in  its  quick  return.  Sown  in  autumn  it 


(55) 

may  be  mown  early  the  succeeding  spring,  and  so  meet  any 
scarcity  of  provender. 


ALFALFA:  LUCERNE— (Medicago  Sativa.) 

This  is,  beyond  doubt,  the  oldest  cultivated  grass  known, 
having  been  introduced  into  Greece  from  Media  500  B.  C., 
and  the  Romans,  finding  its  qualities  good,  cultivated  it  ex- 
tensively, and  by  them  it  was  carried  into  France  when 
Caesar  reduced  Gaul.  It  is  emphatically  a  child  of  the  sun, 
and  revels  in  a  heat  that  would  destroy  any  other  species  of 
clover.  But  cold  and  moisture  are  hurtful  to  it.  On  the 
rich,  sandy  lands  of  the  South  it  is  invaluable,  and  will 
grow  luxuriantly,  making  enormous  yields  of  hay.  Its  nu- 
tritive constituents  are  almost  identical  with  red  clover,  but 
it  has  one  property  not  possessed  by  the  latter,  and  that  is, 
it  is  perennial.  It,  does  not  stool  as  freely  as  red  clover, 
and  therefore  must  be  sown  rather  thicker.  It  will  con- 
tinue to  furnish  green  pasturage  later  than  red  clover. 

It  does  not  grow  well  0n  any  soil  that  has  a  hard  pan, 
nor  on  thin  soils.  To  secure  a  stand,  the  ground  must  be 
in  a  thorough  state  of  tilth,  well  pulverized  and  mellow. 
A  want  of  attention  to  this  requisite  has  caused  many  to  be 
disappointed  in  the  result.  But  in  well  prepared,  rich, 
gravelly  or  sandy  loam,  it  succeeds  remarkably,  sending 
down  its  long  tap-roots  many  feet  into  the  subsoil,  pumping 
up  moisture  from  below,  and  thus  will  thrive  when  all 
other  plants  are  drooping.  In  this  respect  it  is  far  superior 
to  clover.  For  the  latter,  a  suitable  surface  soil  is  of  equal 
importance  with  the  subsoil,  but  for  Lucerne  a  suitable  sub- 
soil is  absolutely  necessary,  as  the  roots  are  not  fibrous,  only 
rootlets  shooting  off  from  the  main  tap-root.  This  tap-root 
grows  to  be  as  large  as  a  carrot.  This  enormous  quantity 
of  roots  permeating  the  ground  to  the  depth  of  several  feet, 


(56) 

necessarily  prepares  the  land  for  increased  production,  the 
leguminous  plants  deriving  the  larger  part  of  their  suste- 
nance from  the  atmosphere,  and  storing  it  in  the  roots; 
so  that,  as  a  fertilizer,  it  stands  deservedly  high.  The 
soil  is  not  only  fertilized  to  the  amount  of  several  tons  per 
acre,  but  it  is  mellowed  from  the  mechanical  displacement 
of  the  soil  and  the  admixture  of  decayed  vegetable  matter. 
As  a  preparation  for  wheat  it  is  equal  to  clover,  and  for 
corn  better.  Besides,  a  large  amount  of  the  leaves  is  neces- 
sarily strewn  on  the  ground,  and  they  shade  it  effectually. 

The  seed  of  Lucerne  is  yellow,  and  heavy,  when  good. 
If  brown,  it  has  received  too  much  heat  in  the  mow,  and  if 
light  colored,  it  indicates  that  it  was  saved  too  green.  And 
the  same  precautions  are  necessary  to  be  observed  in  regard 
to  red  clover.  The  time  of  sowing  is  the  same  with  the 
other  species  of  clover,  that  is,  spripg  time.  It  should  be 
sown  in  drills,  and  cultivated  the  first  year,  so  as  to  keep 
down  the  weeds.  It  is  easily  smothered. 

It  derives  its  name,  Alfalfa,  from  the  Chilians.  It  grows 
spontaneously  all  over  Chili,  among  the  Andes,  as  well  as 
on  the  pampas  of  that  country,  and  of  Buenos  Ay  res.  The 
French  and  Spanish  settlements  of  the  Southern  States  ad- 
here to  it,  and  cultivate  it  in  preference  to  all  other  forage 
plants.  It  would  be^a  good  addition  to  the  farms  of  West 
Tennessee,  especially  in  the  sandy  bottoms.  It  would  also 
thrive  upon  the  alluvial  bottoms  of  any  part  of  the  State 
where  the  sun  has  fair  play  on  the  ground. 

When  properly  managed,  the  number  of  cattle  which  can 
be  kept  in  good  condition  on  an  acre  of  Lucerne,  during 
the  whole  season,  exceeds  belief.  It  is  no  sooner  mown 
than  it  pushes  out  fresh  shoots,  and  wonderful  as  the  growth 
of  clover  sometimes  is,  in  a  field  that  has  been  lately  mown, 
that  of  Lucerne  is  far  more  rapid.  Lucerne  will  last  for 
many  years,  shooting  its  roots — tough  and  fibrous  almost  a 
those  of  liquorice — downwards  for  nourishment,  till  they 
are  altogether  out  of  reach  of  drought.  In  the  dryest  and 


(57) 

most  sultry  weather,  when  every  blade  of  grass  droops  for 
want  of  moisture,  Lucerne  holds  out  its  stem  fresh  and 
green  as  in  the  genial  spring.  • 

Although  so  luxuriant  in  France,  it  will  not  flourish  in 
England  for  the  want  of  sun.  It  has  generally  failed  in  the 
Northern  States  for  the  same  reason,  superadded  to  the  cold, 
while  in  the  South  it  is  a  fine,  thriity  plant.  It  has  been 
fully  tested  in  Georgia  and  Alabama,  and  has  given  univer- 
sal satisfaction.  Horses  there,  it  is  said,  require  no  other 
food  when  not  constantly  engaged  in  work.  Five  tons  of 
good  hay  have  been  made  to  the  acre.  It  is  estimated  that 
five  horses  may  be  supported  during  the  entire  year  from 
one  acre  of  it.  It  is  ready  for  the  mower  a  month  before 
red  clover,  and  springs  up  long  before  the  usual  pasture 
grasses.  la  saving  it  for  hay,  care  must  be  exeroiset',  as 
in  red  clover,  not  to  expose  the  plant  too  long  to  the  sun, 
as  it  will  shrivel  and  dry  up  the  leaves,  and  they  will  be 
lost.  The  time  for  cutting  is  when  it  is  in  full  bloom,  as  in 
red  clover. 

Occasionally  it  is  attacked  by  an  insect,  when  it  begins 
to  turn  yellow,  then  it  should  at  once  be  cut,  as  it  will 
quickly  dry  up  otherwise.  Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  seed, 
and  the  small  amount  cultivated,  it  is  quite  expensive,  but 
the  farmer  can  test  it  on  a  small  quantity  of  land,  and  at 
the  same  time  secure  seed  for  future  sowing.  The  first  year 
it  is  apt  -to  be  troubled  by  the  presence  of  weeds,  but  these 
can  be  easily  exterminated  if  the  precaution  is  observed  to 
run  the  mower  over  it  before  weeds  go  to  seed.  After- 
wards no  fears  need  be  entertained  on  that  subject. 

This  plant  is  well  adapted  to  the  use  ot  persons  living  in 
small  towns  or  villages,  who  have  a  small  lot  they  wish  to 
devote  to  hay  for  a  single  horse  or  cow.  No  other  kind  of 
clover  or  grass  will  equal  it  in  quantity,  while  the  quality 
is  as  good  as  the  best. 

On  the  whole,  the  farmers  cannot  do  better  than  adopt 
the  cultivation  of  this  grass.  It  has  proved,  with  all  who 


(58) 

have  tested  it,  worthy  of  all  the  extravagant  encomiums 
bestowed  upon  it. 

An  analysis  shows  the  hay  to  contain  : 

Flesh  formers 14.4 

Heating  properties 22.5 

Crude  fibre 40.0 

Fat 2.5 

Ash 6.4 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  flesh- forming  constituents  it  sur- 
passes red  clover  by  one  per  cent. 


SAINFOIN  OR  ESPARSETTE.— (Onobrychis 

Experiments  have  been  made  with  this  grass,  and  though 
so  valuable  in  France  as  to  be  called  sacred,  it  has  not 
proved  a  success  here.  It  requires  two  or  three  years  to 
arrive  at  maturity,  and  during  that  time  has  to  be  watched 
closely,  or  it  will  be  choked  up  with  weeds  or  grasses.  It 
does  not  yield  as  much  hay  as  either  red  clover  or  lucerne, 
but  is  of  a  very  superior  kind,  and  is  much  vaunted  as  a 
good  butter-making  hay.  It  does  not  give  cows  the  hoven, 
however  much  they  may  eat  of  it.  Its  seeds  are  also  said 
to  be  superior  to  oats,  and  more  nutritious,  and  are  very 
fine  for  fowls,  inciting  them  to  lay.  It  does  best  on  lime- 
stone soils,  though  succeeding  well  on  gravelly  or  sandy 
land,  and  will  stand  a  large  amount  of  heat,  though  not 
much  cold.  It  wor.ld  probably  suit  the  country  further 
south  better  than  Tennessee,  though  I  have  seen  it  growing 
in  Stewart  county,  having  been  brought  there  by  a  Swiss 
family.  It  would  probably  grow  on  all  our  calcareous  soils. 


PASTURE  GRASSES. 


While  there  are  over  two  hundred  varieties  of  grasses 
cultivated  in  England  for  the  use  of  domestic  animals,  in 
the  occupied  territory  embraced  within  the  United  States 
there  are  not  more  than  twenty  five,  although  there  is  a 
much  greater  diversity  of  soils,  surface  configuration,  climate 
and  latitude.  The  grasses  constituting  our  meadows  are 
nearly  all  derived  from  the  eastern  continent,  where  the 
abundance  of  the  rich  pasture  lands  teem  with  a  great  va- 
riety of  nutritious  herbage.  All  the  cereals — oats,  rye, 
wheat  and  barley,  are  indigenous  to  the  old  world.  Indian 
corn  is  the  greatest  and  almost  the  only  valuable  cereal  con- 
tributed by  the  new  world  to  the  old.  The  great  prairies 
east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi  abound  in  a  charming  and 
luxuriant  vegetation,  but  the  supply  of  food  which  they 
afford  for  the  herds  grazing  upon  them,  in  comparison  to 
the  overwhelming  quantity  of  worthless  herbage,  is  very 
scanty.  Exactly  the  reverse  is  the  condition  of  the  pastures 
of  the  eastern  hemisphere,  where  almost  every  plant  that 
springs  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  is  rich  in  nutritive 
elements.  The  situation  of  Tennessee  being  midway  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West,  partakes  of  both  sections. 
We  have  in  the  State  many  thousands  of  acres  of  wild  lands, 
situated  not  only  on  the  mountain  plateau,  but  on  the  high- 
lands of  the  river  lands,  called  with  us  "  Barrens."  These 
Barrens  are  covered  with  a  dense  growth  of  timber,  and  in 
some  sections,  where  they  have  not  been  burned  off,  with 


(60) 

undergrowth  of  various  kinds.  Where  this  undergrowth 
has  been  burned  off  by  firing  the  leaves  in  the  fall  and 
winter,  the  pastures  are  as  fine  as  are  seen  anywhere,  not 
excepting  the  prairies.  It  is  true  there  are  many  species  of 
grasses  that  are  worthless,  or  that  are  at  least  of  doubtful 
value,  yet  enough  of  them  exist  there  to  make  them  invalu- 
able to  the  stockgrower.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  these 
grasses  become  tall,  will  turn  over  and  form  a  roof  or  cov- 
ering to  young  grass  that  grows  under  them  all  the  winter, 
and  stock  will  paw  at  it  until,  the  covering  removed,  they 
get  to  the  young  succulent  shoots  thus  kept  alive  through- 
out our  short  winters.  A  detailed  description  of  these  wild 
grasses,  while  it  might  interest  the  student,  would  be  out  of 
place  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  intended  to  be  entirely  prac- 
tical ;  for,  however  much  they  may  be  used  in  their  indi- 
genous situation,  there  is  no  probability  of  the  farmer  ever 
getting  them  transferred  to  his  fields.  The  grasses  we  here 
treat  of  as  pasture  grasses,  are  alone  those  that  will  bear 
sowing  in  new  situations,  and  to  this  class  we  will  strictly 
adhere.  For  a  more  detailed  description  of  the  others,  I 
refer  the  reader  to  the  work  sent  out  from  this  Bureau  on 
the'"  Grasses  of  Tennessee/7 

With  this  explanation  we  will  describe  the  subjoined. 


WIMBLE  WHjTj.—(Muhlenbergia  di/usa.) 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  do  more  than  mention  this  grass, 
which  forms,  in  many  sections,  the  bulk  of  the  pastures  of 
the  woods.  It  does  not  grow  in  fields,  but  in  woods,  where, 
in  the  fall,  after  rains  have  set  in,  it  carpets  the  earth  with 
living  green.  Various  opinions  are  entertained  as  to  its 
nutritive  qualities.  Some  farmers  contend  that  their  stock 
are  fond  of  it,  and,  on  a  sufficient  range,  cattle,  horses  and 


(61) 

sheep  will  go  into  the  winter  sleek  and  fat  from  this  vigor- 
ous grass.  Others  regard  it  as  wellnigh  worthless. 

It  freely  propagates  itself  in  all  woods  where  the  cover- 
ing of  leaves  is  not  so  great  as  to  exclude  the  r?jys  of  the 
sun  from  the  soil.  Like  other  grasses,  it  does  best  on  good 
lands,  and  the  rich,Tblack,  loamy  woods  in  many  parts  of 
the  State  are  set  with  it. 

It  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  butter  making  grass,  and 
gives  a  particularly  fine  flavor  to  this  article  of  food.  It  has 
never,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  writer,  been  sown,  though, 
as  it  produces  seed  in  a  limited  quantity,  there  is  no  reason 
why  it  should  not  be,  if  it  is  really  a  valuable  grass. 


BERMUDA  GRASS.— SCUTCH   GRASS.— (Cynodon  dactylm.) 

Bermuda  grass  is  a  native  of  the  West  Indies,  and  is  the 
principal  grass  of  that  torrid  country.  It  has  only  lately 
been  brought  into  notice  as  a  valuable  pasture  grass  for  this 
State.  In  Louisiana,  Texas  and  the  South  generally,  it  is, 
and  has  been,  the  chief  reliance  for  pasture  for  a  long  time, 
and  the  immense  herds  of  cattle  on  the  southern  prairies 
subsist  principally  on  this  food.  It  revels  on  sandy  soils, 
and  has  been  grown  extensively  on  the  sandy  hills  of  Vir- 
ginia and  North  and  South  Carolina.  From  the  extreme 
vitality  of  its  long,  rhizome  roots,  it  is  very  difficult  to  erad- 
icate when  once  it  gets  a  good  foothold.  Occasionally  the 
traveler  meets  with  patches  of  Bermuda  grass  in  the  cotton 
fields  of  the  South,  and  it  is  carefully  avoided  by  the  planter, 
any  disturbance  giving  a  new  start  to  its  vigorous  roots. 
Some  ditch  around  it,  and  others  enclose  it  and  let  shrub- 
bery do  the  work  of  destruction.  It  is  used  extensively  on 
the  southern  rivers  to  hold  the  levees  and  the  embankments 
of  the  roads.  It  is  the  only  yard  grass  in  that  section.  It 
forms  a  sward  so  tough  it  is  almost  impossible  for  a  plow  to 


(62) 

pass  through  it.  There  is  a  saying  in  the  South,  "  that  it 
would  take  a  team  of  six  bull  elephants  to  draw  a  thumb- 
lancet  through  it." 

It  will  throw  its  runners  over  a  rock  six  feet  across,  and 
soon  hide  it  from  view ;  or,  it  will  run  down  the  sides  of 
the  deepest  gully  and  stop  its  washing. 

The  parks  of  the  South,  set  with  it,  present  a  very  beau- 
tiful appearance  if  kept  mown,  and  its  pale  green  color  acts 
as  a  great  relief  to  the  landscape  when  burning  with  the 
summer  suns  of  the  South.  Hogs  thrive  upon  its  succulent 
roots,  and  horses  and  cattle  upon  its  foliage.  It  has  seed, 
but  is  always  propagated  by  dropping  cuttings  in  a  furrow 
two  or  three  feet  apart,  from  the  fact  that  the  seed  rarely 
mature,  so  that  practically  it  may  be  said  to  have  none.  It, 
however,  does  not  endure  a  shade,  and  the  weeds  must  be 
mown  from  it  the  first  year. 

In  some  of  the  worn  and  gullied  fields  of  Tennessee,  on 
her  mountain  sides  and  on  the  sandy  hills  of  many  parts  of 
the  State,  the  cultivation  of  this  grass  would  be  a  grand 
improvement,  making  the  waste  places  to  bloom,  where  now 
only  sterility  reigns.  During  the  winter  it,  unlike  blue 
grass,  disappears  from  view,  but  with  the  warming  influences 
of  the  sun  it  springs  up  and  affords  a  constant  grazing 
through  the  spring,  summer  and  autumn  months.  The 
farmers  of  the  South,  before  the  war,  looked  upon  it  as  a 
curse  rather  than  a  blessing,  and  used  every  endeavor  to 
destroy  it.  But  a  change  of  opinion  has  taken  place  in  this 
respect,  and  it  is  encouraged  in  its  growth. 

It  would  be  a  good  grass  to  mix  with  blue  grass,  as,  when 
it  disappears  in  the  winter,  the  blue  grass  and  white  clover 
will  spring  up  to  keep  the  ground  in  a  constant  state  of 
verdure.  It  grows  luxuriantly  on  the  top  of  Lookout 
Mountain,  having  been  set  there  many  years  ago.  This 
mountain  is  2,200  feet  high,  and  has,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
excessively  cold  winters  ;  so,  it  it  thrives  there,  no  fear  need 
be  entertained  as  to  its  capacity  to  endure  our  climate. 


(63) 

Cattle  are  very  fond  of  it,  and  will  leave  clover  to  feed 
upon  Bermuda.  It  also  has  the  capacity  to  withstand  any 
amount  of  heat  and  drought,  and  months  that  are  so  dry  as 
to  check  the  growth  of  blue  grass,  will  only  make  the  Ber- 
muda greener  and  more  thrifty.  The  experiment  of  mix- 
ing the  two  grasses,  spoken  of  above,  has  been  tried  with 
eminent  success. 

It  is  also  used  in  the  South  as  meadow  grass,  but  Ten- 
nessee has  so  many  other  grasses  of  more  value,  that  it 
would  not  be  profitable  to  employ  this,  other  than  as  a  pas- 
ture grass. 

Where  it  is  indigenous,  it  has  a  great  reputation  as  a 
fertilizer,  and  many  fields  so  worn  out  as  to  be  worthless, 
have  been  reclaimed  by  it.  The  labor  of  plowing  it  up  is 
considerable,  but  the  many  improved  plows  of  the  present 
day  would  be  easily  dragged  through  it.  There  is  a  sacred 
grass  in  India  called  the  Daub,  and  it  is  venerated  by  the 
inhabitants  on  account  of  its  wonderful  usefulness.  This  is 
said  to  be  precisely  the  same  as  the  Bermuda,  except  the 
changes  made  by  the  difference  of  climate  and  soil. 

"Bermuda  grass  well  set,  which  affords  the  finest  and 
most  nutritious  pasturage  I  have  ever  seen,  will  keep 
almost  any  number  of  sheep  to  the  acre — three  or  four  times 
as  many  as  blue  grass/' 


HAIRY    MUSKIT--MEZQTJITE--MESQUIT— (Bouleloua  cur- 
tipendula.) 

Muskit  grass  has  come  into  very  general  use  in  some  parts 
of  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and,  to  some  extent,  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  where  used,  has  given  much  satisfaction.  It  is 
the  grass  of  the  northern  and  western  prairies,  and  is  very 
nutritious.  In  the  absence  of  grasses  better  suited  to  this 


(64) 

climate,  the  muskit  might  become  a  very  popular  grass,  but 
such  is  not  the  case.  Great  quantities  of  it  are  annually  cut 
and  sold  as  prairie  hay.  It  would  be  well  for  some  enter- 
prising farmer  to  experiment  with  it. 


ANNUAL  SPEAR  GRASS-GOOSE  GRASS— (Poo,  annua.) 

This  is  one  of  the  species  of  the  valuable  genus  poa  to 
which  blue  grass  belongs,  and  is  a  very  common  grass  on 
all  our  swards,  and  known  as  goose  grass.  It  is  so  very 
like  blue-grass  that,  to  a  casual  observer,  it  would  be 
taken  for  it.  But  the  florets  are  not  webbed,  and  in  blue- 
grass  the  roots  are  creeping,  while  this  is  tufted.  It  is  a 
valuable  grazing  grass  and  sows  itself.  It  is  a  common  pas- 
ture grass  of  the  Northern  States,  and  is  highly  prized.  It 
flowers  through  the  whole  summer,  unless  dried  up  by  a 
drought,  to  which  it  easily  yields.  It  forms  the  principle 
grazing  of  the  Unaka  Mountains  in  Tennessee. 

According  to  Prof.  Way,  this  grass  is  less  nutritious  than 
blue-grass  when  green,  and  more  nutritious  when  dry. 


WOOD  MEADOW  GRASS— (Poa nemaralis.) 

This  grass  grows  -in  [moist,  shady  woods,  is  rank  and 
luxuriant,  and  is,  like  the  other  poos,  greatly  relished  by 
stock.  It  will  thrive  well  in  thickets  and  barrens,  and  is 
an  early  grass/..  It^has  been  treated  of  under  the  head  of 
meadow  grasses. 


(65) 
BLUE-GRASS— (Poa  pratensis.} 

This  is  the  king  of  pasture  grasses 
in  the  Central  Basin  of  Tennessee, 
and  on  soils  suited  to  its  growth  it 
is  useless  to  attempt  the  cultivation 
of  any  other  kinds,  except  as  auxil- 
iary to  this.  It  is  valuable  both  for 
summer  and  winter  pasturage,  and 
no  farmer  occupying  soils  suited  to 
its  growth  is  justifiable  in  being 
without  it.  It  is  easily  started,  and 
the  seeds  are  readily  procured,  and 
once  started,  it  is  perennial.  No 
amount  of  pasturing  is  sufficient  to 
destroy  it  utterly,  and,  though  eaten 
until  no  appearance  of  it  is  seen  on 
the  ground,  with  rest  for  a  few  days, 
the  earth  is  again  carpeted  with  its 
soft  green  foliage  as  luxuriantly  as 
ever.  "  Whoever  has  blue-grass  has 
the  basis  for  all  agricultural  pros- 
perity, and  that  man,  if  he  has  not 
the  finest  horses,  cattle  and  sheep,  has  no  one  to  blame  but 
himself.  Others  in  other  circumstances  may  do  well,  he 
can  hardly  help  doing  well  if  he  will  try." 

Its  parentage  is  claimed  by  many  States,  and  it  is  prob- 
ably indigenous  to  some  of  them,  though  some  authors  say 
it  was  introduced  from  Europe.  Let  that  be  as  it  may,  it 
grows  readily  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  north  of  lati- 
tude 40°,  and  lower  down  on  suitable  soils.  It  flowers  in 
earliest  summer,  and  gives  a  rich  pasturage,  except  in  the 
driest  months,  all  the  year.  It  varies  in  size  in  different 
localities,  according  to  soil  and  climate.  From  the  unex- 
ampled success  its  cultivation  has  met  with  in  Kentucky,  it 
has  acquired  the  name  of  Kentucky  blue-grass.  The  June 
5 


(66) 

or  wire  grass  of  the  North  is  very  much  like  it  in  general 
appearance,  but  the  seed  stalk  is  flattened,  and  for  this  reason 
the  botanical  name  poa  compressa  is  given.  The  seeds  are 
not  so  fuzzy  as  those  of  the  Kentucky  blue-grass. 

In  all  the  middle  portions  of  the  United  States  it  forms 
the  principlal  constituent  of  the  turf.  In  some  sections  it 
has  been  used  as  a  hay,  and  from  the  analynis  hereunto  ap- 
pended, it  is  full  of  all  the  constituents  of  nutrition.  But  it 
is  not  a  success  as  a  meadow  grass,  its  chief  excellence  being 
exhibited  as  a  pasture  grass.  It  endures  the  frosts  of  win- 
ter better  than  any  other  grass  we  have,  and  if  allowed  to 
grow  rank  during  the  fall  months,  it  will  turn  over  and 
hide  beneath  its  covering  the  most  luxuriant  of  winter  crop- 
pings.  Many  farmers  pass  their  stock  through  the  entire 
winter  on  it  .alone,  feeding  only  when  the  ground  is  covered 
with  snow. 

As  a  lawn  grass  it  stands  pre-eminent  among  all  others, 
its  rich  Paris  green  foliage,  its  uniform  growth  and  its  con- 
stant verdure  making  it  beautiful  both  summer  and  winter. 

A  farm  well  set  in  blue-grass  will  yield  at  least  ten  dol- 
lars per  acre  in  grazing,  and  yet  men  who  have  farms  with 
all  the  constituents  necessary  to  produce  the  best  of  grass 
will  persistently  wear  them  out  in  cultivation  from  year  to 
year,  with  less  net  receipts  by  far  than  the  yield  of  a  pasture. 

In  the  work  on  Wheat  Culture,  issued  from  this  office,  it 
has  been  shown  that  a  large  proportion  of  Middle  and  East 
Tennessee  abounds  in  limestone  rocks,  in  fact,  it  underlies 
the  Basin  of  Middle  Tennessee  and  forms  most  of  the  founda- 
tions of  the  Eastern  mountains.  The  blue  grass  of  Ken- 
tucky is  made  from  soil  produced  by  precisely  the  same 
strata  of  rocks  seen  here.  Any  farmer  having  land  show- 
ing an  outcrop  of  limestone  with  a  grayish  colored  subsoil, 
may  be  assured  he  has  the  necessary  soil.  •  These  rocks  are 
looked  upon  as  a  curse,  yet,  without  their  presence,  we  could 
not  have  the  magnificent  parks  of  blue- grass  seen  around. 

Blue-grass  lauds  do  not  exist  everywhere  in  the  United 


(67) 

States,  and  tha*  should  increase  their  value.  They  will  be 
in  demand,  and  that  soon.  The  wild  grasses  that  now  are 
such  an  attraction  to  immigrants,  on  the  table- lands  of  Ten- 
nessee, will  ultimately  be  exhausted  by  the  increase  in  pop- 
ulation, while  the  demand  for  food  and  every  variety  o? 
domestic  animals  will  be  proportionably  augmented  accord- 
ing to  the  increase  of  the  population.  Then  every  acre  of 
land  that  will  produce  blue-grass  will  be  in  active  demand, 
and  will  be  devoted  to  stock  raising,  for  which  it  is  so  well 
adapted,  and  sheep  and  cattle  will  then  fleck  every  hillside. 
The  fame  of  the  Kentucky  blue  grass  is  so  great  that  the 
majority  of  people  suppose  Tennessee  cannot  produce  it  so 
well,  and  they  demand  practical  evidence  of  the  fact.  We 
have  that  very  evidence  here  spread  out  before  our  eyes  in 
the  magnificent  pastures  of  those  who  have  adopted  the 
proper  management.  Kentucky  has  famous  pastures,  be- 
cause, in  the  outset  of  her  cultivation  of  the  blue-grass,  a 
system  of  management  was  adopted  that  proved  a  success. 
That  system  has  been  thoroughly  tested  both  in  Kentucky 
and  in  some  counties  in  Tennessee,  and  no  one  has  made  a 
failure  who  has  attempted  it.  Those  who  have  put  them- 
selves to  the  trouble  of  learning  that  system,  and  putting  it 
in  practice,  have  made  as  good  grass  as  can  be  made  IB 
Kentqcky  or  elsewhere.  As  in  other  crops,  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  grass  are  in  exact  proportion  to  the  care  and 
management  bestowed  upon  it,  and  the  sod  is  as  good,  the 
blades  as  wide  and  long  as  can  be  seen  anywhere,  but  this  all 
depends  on  the  ^kill  and  attention  of  the  farmer.  Some 
will  sow  a  lot  and  then  put  in  cattle,  horses,  sheep  and  hogs 
to  keep  it  eaten  to  the  ground  throughout  the  year.  Under 
such  treatment  the  grass  disappears,  and  such  farmers  con- 
clude their  soils  are  not  adapted  to  grass.  Let  the  grass  get 
a  vigorous  start,  protect  it  from  stock  for  the  first  year, 
and  fertilize  it  with  stable  manure,  or  some  of  the  super- 
phosphates, and  be  sure  not  to  over-crowd  the  pasture  with 
stock.  This  is  the  true  secret  of  having  good  pastures. 


(68) 

Dr.  F.  H.  Gordon,  of  Smith  county,  spent  years  in  study- 
ing the  habits  of  blue-grass,  and  finally  succeeded  in  giving 
the  best  instructions  for  securing  a  stand : 

"Some  seventy  years  ago,"  he  says,  writing  in  1871,  "two 
young  men  named  Cunningham  came  from  the  south  branch 
of  the  Potomac,  in  Virginia,  to  Strode's  creek,  in  Bourbon 
county,  Kentucky.  They  had  studied  and  practiced  the 
blue-grass  system  on  the  Potomac.  They  jointly  purchased 
two  hundred  acres  of  land  on  Stroke's  creek,  and  sowed  the 
whole  tract  in  timothy  and  blue-grass.  In  a  few  years  their 
whole  tract  was  covered  with  a  luxuriant  coat  of  grass. 
They  had  brought  with  them  the  seed,  on  a  pack  horse,  all 
the  way  from  Virginia.  Their  farm  soon  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  their  neighbors,  who  began  to  visit  and  learn  how 
to  manage  grass.  In  1835,  I  too  went  to  see  the  Cunning- 
hams and  many  other  farmers  in  the  blue-grass  region,  in 
order  to  learn  the  system.  I  devoted  many  weeks  to  the 
study  of  the  system — going  with  the  best  farmers  over  their 
farms  and  seeing  their  management,  asking  many  questions 
and  writing  down  their  answers.  Then,  the  Cunninghams, 
like  many  others,  had  grown  to  be  wealthy  on  the  profits 
of  the  blue- grass.  One  of  them,  Robert,  then  had  two 
thousand  acres  in  blue-grass  and  Isaac  had  three  thousand. 
Nearly  all  the  farmers  I  visited  owed  the  luxury  of  their 
blue-grass  to  the  direct  instruction  of  the  Cunninghams. 
To  me  it  was  a  feast  to  travel  over  and  view  the  fine  sod  of 
grass  on  the  first  two  hundred  acres  which  had  caused  the 
whole  blue-grass  region  to  become  so  beautiful,  prosperous 
and  wealthy. 

While  learning  the  blue-grass  system,  I  saw  in  every 
neighborhood  that  those  who  had  studied  the  system  closest, 
had  the  best  pastures  invariably.  You  can  see  in  all  that 
region  of  blue-grass  some  farms  where  all  the  lots  look  like 
gome  of  ours  in  Tennessee,  which  are  gnawed  all  the  year 
round  by  calves,  sheep  and  geese.  This  is  because  the 
owner  does  not  think  enough  about  its  management.  He 


(69) 

does  all  the  work  and  incurs  all  the  expense  necessary  to 
make  the  richest  pastures,  and  then  wastes  it  all  by  bad  and 
thoughtless  management.  But  there  are  some  farmers  in 
almost  every  county  in  Tennessee  who  well  understand  the 
Kentucky  system.  Those  who  intend  to  sow  grass  may 
learn  the  system  from  them.  What  a  scene  of  comfort, 
beauty,  luxury  and  wealth,  will  this  whole  Middle  Tennes- 
see present,  when  it  shall  be  covered  with  the  richest  blue- 
grass!  Such  will  be  the  future  of  this  fine  country." 

"Blue-grass  will  always  pay  a  good  profit.  Every  acre 
set  in  it  will  pay  its  taxes  and  a  good  profit  besides.  We 
now  till  too  much  land.  We  ought  to  till  less  and  make 
more  grass.  Let  not  an  acre  be  idle.  There  is  our  true 
interest.  Cotton,  tobacco,  rice,  hemp  and  sugar  need  la- 
borers, but  grass  does  not.  If  we  sow  our  lands  in  grass  we 
can  do  without  so  much  labor.  The  indisposition  of  farmers 
to  take  advantage  of  experience  is  shown  in  the  following 
case,  which  is  in  point : 

"  I  know  a  rocky  lot  of  about  six  acres  which  I  myself 
sowed  in  1835.  During  last  year  (1870)  it  afforded  a  profit 
to  the  present  owner  of  full  ten  dollars  per  acre.  The 
owner  has  no  grass  on  the  balance  of  his  land,  and  does  not 
intend  to  have  any.  He  has  lived  during  his  whole  life  in 
sight  of  rich  pastures  of  blue- grass,  and  knows  that  his 
whole  tract  will  produce  as  good  grass  as  those  pastures,  yet 
he  will  not  sow  grass.  The  reader  will  say  that  this  farmer, 
with  his  six  rocky  acres  of  blue- grass,  is  a  singular  man. 
But  he  is  not  very  singular,  because  hundreds  of  farmers 
here  know  just  as  well  the  value  of  blue-grass  as  he  does, 
and  yet  they  do  not  sow  it. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  lands  most  productive 
of  blue  grass  are  the  calcareous  soils.  Lime  is  a  natural 
stimulant  to  it,  and  it  flourishes  best  where  natural  supplies 
of  this  salt  are  found.  Go  into  a  pasture  that  has  an  occa- 
sional out-cropping  of  limestone,  and  the  sprigs  of  grass 
surrounding  the  rocks  will  be  found  more  luxuriant  than 


(70) 

anywhere  else.  Our  lower  silurian  formation  then,  where- 
ever  found,  may  be  safely  sown  in  this  grass.  The  Basin  of 
Middle  Tennessee,  and  the  valleys  of  East  Tennessee,  are 
all  well  suited  for  this  grass,  and  I  have  seen  some  good 
sods  in  Carroll  county,  West  Tenneesee.  It  also  grows 
upon  many  places  amongst  the  hills  of  the  rivers,  though 
not  so  luxuriantly  as  in  the  black  loams  of  the  silurian  and 
devonian  formations.  Lime,  though  a  great  stimulant  to 
its  growth,  is  not  an  essential  ingredient  in  the  soil.  Blue 
grass  will  always  grow  well  under  walnut  and  locust  trees. 

We  have  in  Middle  and  East  Tennessee  the  same  charac- 
ter of  soil  that  exists  in  the  blue  grass  country  of  Kentucky, 
and,  owing  to  our  milder  climate,  can  produce  a  better 
winter  pasturage  than  can  be  produced  in  the  colder  climate 
of  Kentucky.  Little  land  exists  in  Tennessee  but  what  will 
produce  this  grass  profitably. 

Select  the  lot  to  be  sown,  and  clean  off  all  brush,  leaves, 
and  briars.  If  it  cannot  be  done  with  a  stalk  rake,  use 
hand  rakes,  as  the  seed  must  come  in  contact  with  the  soil. 
Seed  sown  on  a  bed  of  leaves  will  soon  germinate,  but  the 
rootlets,  being  unable  to  burrow  in  the  soil,  will  quickly 
parch  up  and  die.  If  the  land  is  thickly  covered  with  trees,. 
it  will  not  thrive  well,  therefore  it  is  necessary  the  timber 
should  be  thinned  out.  Leave  the  tallest  trees  that  are 
really  the  more  valuable,  taking  off  the  low,  bushy  kinds 
that  make  too  much  shade.  It  is  an  admitted  fact  that  blue 
grass  does  better  in  partial  shade  than  where  there  is  none. 
It  does  not  endure  a  drought  as  well  as  some  other  grasses, 
and,  consequently,  some  degree  of  shade  is  essential  to  pro- 
tect it  from  the  scorching  rays  of  midsummer. 

So  many  seasons  have  been  recommended  as  the  proper 
time  of  sowing,  that  it  may  be  said  each  one,  under  favor- 
able circumstances,  is  a  good  time.  One  Kentucky  farmer 
aays:  "Any  time  in  the  winter,  when  snow  is  on  the  ground, 
sow  broadcast  from  three  to  four  quarts  of  seed  to  the  acre. 
With  the  spring  the  seeds  germinate,  and  are  very  fine  and 


(71) 

delicate  in  the  sprouts.  No  stock  should  be  allowed  for  the 
first  year,  nor  until  the  grass  seeds  in  June  for  the  first  time 
the  second  year.  The  best  plan  is  to  turn  on  the  stock 
when  the  seeds  ripen  in  June.  Graze  off  the  grass,  then 
allow  the  fall  growth,  and  graze  all  winter,  taking  care 
never  to  feed  the  grass  closely  at  any  time." 

Another  authority  says:  "Follow  nature  and  obey  her 
dictates.  The  seeds  ripen  in  June,  and  are  scattered  by  the 
winds  and  rains  as  soon  as  ripe,  therefore,  sow  the  seeds  as 
soon  as  they  can  be  gathered." 

This  plan  might  be  a  proper  one  in  a  colder  or  moister 
climate  than  ours,  but  here  it  would  result  in  the  grass 
being  often  dried  up  by  the  droughts  that  are  almost  in- 
variable in  the  latter  part  of  summer. 

Many  sow,  as  stated  in  the  above  quotation,  on  winter 
snows,  and  that  is  a  very  good  plan,  but  care  should  be  ob- 
served to  have  the  ground  free  from  leaves  before  the  snow 
falls. 

There  are  others  who  sow  in  the  latter  part  of  February 
or  first  of  March,  and  this  sometimes  does  as  well  as  any, 
provided  time  is  given  for  the  grass  to  get  sufficient  hold  to 
resist  the  withering  effects  of  the  summer's  drought.  The 
main  care  to  be  taken  is  to  get  the  grass  large  enough  to 
live  through  freezing  or  dry  weather.  It  will  resist  the 
effects  of  frost  better  than  heat,  however,  and  taking  this 
into  consideration,  the  most  approved  time  of  sowing  is  in 
the  latter  part  of  August  or  first  of  September.  If  sown 
at  this  time  the  autumnal  rains  will  germinate  the  seed,  and 
besides,  at  this  season  there  is  comparatively  little  trash  on 
the  ground,  the  leaves  having  not  yet  fallen.  The  ground 
being  prepared,  the  seeds  are  sown  broadcast,  at  the  rate  of 
one  bushel  per  acre,  and  the  sower  should  be  followed  with 
a  harrow,  or,  if  the  ground  is  very  loose,  with  a  stiff  brush. 
This  will  give  them  a  sufficient  covering.  It  is  a  fact, 
demonstrated  by  actual  experiment,  as  shown  in  one  of  the 
tables  herein  contained,  that  grass  seeds  will  vegetate  best  at 


(72) 

a  depth  of  one  quarter  of  an  inch.  It  may  be  supposed 
that,  with  no  more  covering  than  will  be  given  by  a  harrow 
or  brush,  a  great  many  seeds  will  be  uncovered.  This  is 
very  true,  but  in  one  pound  of  blue  grass  seeds  (clean  seed) 
there  are  3,888,000  seeds.  By  a  computation  every  square 
inch  of  surface  contains  from  ten  to  twelve  seeds.  With 
this  amount  on  the  surface,  one  scarcely  need  fear  a  stand, 
when,  if  one  or  two  take  root,  there  will  be  in  a  year  an 
excessively  close  turf. 

There  can  be  but  little  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to 
the  treading  of  stock  after  sowing.  All  writers  and  farmers 
agree,  that  for  one  year,  at  least,  it  should  be  kept  from  all 
stock.  After  that  there  is  some  difference. 

Dr.  Gordon,  who,  as  before  stated,  paid  more  attention  to 
it  than  any  one  else  in  the  State,  adopted  a  plan  of  manage- 
ment that  has  been  repeatedly  tested,  with  uniform  success. 
It  was  this : 

He  sowed,  either  in  the  autumn  or  spring  months,  indis- 
criminately, as  suited  his  convenience.  He  usually  sowed 
with  rye,  wheat,  or  barley,  if  sowed  in  an  open  field,  but  if 
in  a  woods  lot,  he  sowed  with  rye,  or  after  a  crop  of  millet. 
At  any  rate,  the  soil  must  be  well  cleaned  off  and  broken 
up,  as  well  as  the  nature  of  the  land  permits,  then,  after  the 
grain  is  sown,  the  land  is  harrowed,  and  if  possible,  rolled. 
After  this  the  grass  seeds  were  sown  and  brushed  lightly. 
Immediately  afterward,  all  the  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep 
were  turned  in  that  could  be  secured.  If  there  was  not 
enough  on  his  place  he  borrowed  his  neighbor's  stock,  and 
let  them  run  on  it  until  the  ground  was  well  packed  all 
over  the  surface,  and  then,  and  not  until  then,  were  they 
removed.  If  after  millet  (and  that  is  greatly  recommended, 
as  it  destroys  more  effectively  than  anything  else  all  weeds) 
harrow  about  the  first  of  September,  thoroughly,  sow  the 
seed,  brush  as  before,  and  then  turn  on  the  stock.  If  it  is 
desired  to  sow  in  the  spring,  in  the  latter  part  of  February 
or  early  in  March,  if  not  practicable  sooner,  harrow  the 


(73) 

grain  field,  the  ground  having  been  well  prepared  in  the  fall 
sowing,  sow  the  seed  and  then  turn  stock  on  the  whpat,  rye, 
or  barley,  as  the  case  may  be.  Oat  land  may  be  sown  in 
the  same  way.  The  treading  of  the  stock  packs  in  the  seeds 
and  prevents  the  grass  from  drying  up  in  the  summer  heats, 
or  freezing  out  in  frosts.  Dr.  Gordon  considered  an  open, 
loose,  porous  surface  to  be  unfavorable  to  the  safety  of  the 
young  grass,  but  if  packed  as  directed,  the  grass  will  quickly 
spring  up,  get  a  firm  hold,  and  the  loose  condition  of  the 
subsoil  will  favor  the  transmission  of  the  roots  to  a  good 
depth. 

The  after  treatment  is  simple,  and  that  is  to  allow  no 
stock  on  during  the  first  year,  but  as  soon  as  the  seed  stalks 
begin  to  shoot  up  the  next  year,  pasture  it  so  closely  that  it 
cannot  go  to  seed. 

Dr.  Gordon  differs  in  this  respect  from  other  authors, 
who  allow  it  to  seed  one  time  for  purposes  stated  below. 
He  would  not  let  it  seed  at  all.  His  great  success  in  this 
branch  of  agriculture  will,  in  every  place  where  he  is 
known,  give  weight  to  his  authority. 

Others  say  no  stock  should  go  on  it  for  at  least  two  years, 
or  at  least  until  after  the  first  seeding,  which  will  take  place 
in  June  of  the  second  year.  Some  of  the  best  blue  grass 
lots  in  Middle  Tennessee  have  been  started  by  following 
either  of  the  above  plans.  Of  one  thing  there  cannot  be  a 
doubt,  and  that  is,  the  ground  should  not  be  well  broken 
up.  On  the  surface  it  should  be  as  firmly  packed  as  possible 
to  secure  a  perfect  stand,  and  form  a  perfect  turf.  When 
the  surface  is  too  loose,  the  grass  easily  dries  up,  and  is  much 
easier  frozen  out,  the  seeds  not  going  into  a  germinating 
depth.  Under  favorable  weather,  seed  sown  in  the  spring 
on  a  crop  of  oats  will  do  as  well  as  fall  sowing.  What  is 
meant  by  favorable  weather  is  that  no  unusual  dry  weather 
supervenes.  But  there  is  always  the  risk  of  meeting  with 
unfavorable  weather  in  spring  sowing,  and  on  that  account 
we  would  recommend  sowing  in  autumn.  But  it  is  better 


(74) 

the  sowing  should  take  place  as  early  in  the  fall  as  the 
weather  will  permit,  or,  indeed,  the  latter  part  of  summer, 
if  there  is  a  proper  degree  of  moisture  in  the  soil.  Some 
farmers  sow  a  limited  amount  of  seed  daily,  and  over  the 
same  surface  sprinkle  shelled  corn,  then  turn  on  their  hogs. 
They  root  in  search  of  the  corn,  and  thus  plant  the  seed, 
doing  the  work  of  plow  and  harrow.  This,  to  say  the  least, 
is  a  slovenly  plan,  and  though  possibly  securing  a  good 
stand,  the  ground  is  so  roughened  it  can  never  make  a  beau* 
tiful  pasture. 

If  the  land  is  loose  as  some  soils  are,  it  will  answer  a  very 
good  purpose  to  scratch  up  the  surface  well  with  a  sharp 
toothed  harrow,  and  this  is  especially  the  case  where  the 
roots  of  undergrowth  exist  to  a  great  extent. 

AFTER   TREATMENT. 

Of  one  fact  there  cannot  be  a  doubt,  and  in  this  lies  the 
whole  secret  of  having  remunerative  pastures  of  blue  grass, 
and  that  is,  do  not  pasture  it  to  death.  It  is  true,  it  will 
stand  almost  unlimited  grazing,  but  there  is  a  point  beyond 
which  it  will  cease  to  be  profitable,  and  that  limit  should 
never  be  passed.  The  better  plan  is  to  have  the  lots  divided, 
and  allow  the  stock  on  one  until  it  is  cropped  down,  and 
then,  when  no  longer  any  pickings  can  be  taken  from  it,  do 
not  allow  the  stock  to  continue  to  tread  it,  simply  to  have 
them  on  a  grass  lot.  It  will  not  only  do  the  stock  no  good, 
but,  by  constant  tramping,  the  grass  is  unable  to  throw  up 
any  foliage,  and  in  time  it  will  die,  for  the  roots  must  draw 
some  nourishment  from  the  atmosphere,  or  they  will  perish. 
Allow  the  grass  to  recuperate  by  changing  the  stock  from 
one  pasture  to  another,  and  never  over  stock  it.  Grass  that 
will  keep  ten  oxen  in  growing  order  will  fatten  five  oxen 
quickly.  Stock  of  all  kinds  are  constant  feeders,  and  there 
should  always  be  forage  enough  to  enable  them  to  get  plenty 
to  eat  without  the  labor  of  hunting  for  it. 

There  is  much  variety  of  opinion  on  the  amount  of  stock 


(75) 

that  ought  to  be  put  OD  an  acre.  This  arises  from  the  dif- 
ference in  the  capacity  of  the  land,  some  soils,  being  rich, 
dry,  and  porous,  will  stand  much  heavier  grazing  than  others. 
It  is  safer  to  err  on  the  safe  side,  and  it  is  better  to  put  in 
too  few  than  too  many.  If  stock  are  fattened  quickly,  they 
are  more  remunerative  than  when  fattened  slowly.  Then, 
when  one  lot  is  sold  out,  they  can  be  replaced  by  others. 
Ordinarily,  two  acres  of  good  grass  are  requisite  for  one 
three- year- old  ox,  and  what  will  fatten  one  ox  will  fatten 
ten  head  of  sheep. 

Blue  grass  should  be  allowed  to  go  to  seed  once  or  twice, 
or  until  the  ground  is  well  set  or  turfed  over,  and  then 
never  more.  It  is  a  grass  that  propagates  itself  by  its  creep- 
ing roots  or  rhizomes,  and  it  is  the  disposition  of  all  plants 
and  animals  to  lose  vitality  in  the  process  of  reproduction. 

Though  perennial,  its  vitality  may  be  greatly  lowered  by 
the  effort  of  reproduction,  so  that  it  may  lie  dormant  for 
some  time  afterward,  before  starting  again  its  vigorous 
growth.  Stock  should  be  kept  out  at  seeding  time,  or  be- 
fore, in  fact,  so  as  not  to  eat  down  the  seed  stalks. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  dry  weather  sets  in  during  the 
summer  months,  and  the  grass  becomes  so  dry  it  will  burn. 
Still  stock  will  greedily  eat  it.  The  grass  having  dried  full 
of  nourishing  juices,  it  is  equal  to  the  best  of  hay,  and 
stock  will  still  fatten  upon  it  unless  the  dried  grass  has  been 
drenched  with  rains. 

The  fall  growth  of  some  lots  should  be  kept  untouched 
by  stock,  and  in  this  way  a  fine  winter  pasturage  will  be 
secured.  The  grass  will  get  high  enough  to  fall  over  and 
protect  the  surface  foliage,  and  stock  will  keep  up  their  flesh 
on  it  during  the  winter  without  feed.  When  snows  fall, 
cattle  will  require  to  be  fed,  but  horses,  mules,  and  sheep 
will  paw  off  the  snow,  unless  it  is  too  deep,  and  get  at  the 
grass.  It  is  the  first  deciduous  plant  that  puts  forth  its 
leaves  in  the  spring.  Good  fat  lambs  can  be  sent  into  the 
market  earlier  than  from  any  other  grass.  It  makes  milk 


(76) 


rich  in  butter,  and  gives  the  latter  a  fine  golden  color,  with- 
out changing  its  taste,  or,  like  clover,  imparting  its  peculiar 
flavor  to  it. 

The  following  is  an  analysis  of  this  grass,  as  compared 
with  some  other  well  known  grasses:     (Way.) 

FIRST.      DRIED   AT   A   TEMPERATURE   OF    212°. 


bfi  S 

bJO  co 

x.s-a 

£»§ 

**'*!'& 

4§Mj 

. 

100  Parts  of 

jg  a  -3 

<u  s  "3 

§^ 

'M 

S  S.S 

fe£ 

•*« 

W|'l 

^fe 

if 

Blue  °rass  give                       .. 

10.35 

263 

4306 

3802 

594 

Timothv 

11.36 

355 

53.35 

2646 

528 

Orchard  grass  .           .         

13.53 

3.14 

44.32 

3370 

531 

Clover  

22.55 

3.67 

44.47 

19.75 

956 

White  clover  

18.76 

4.38 

40.04 

26.53 

1029 

Sweet  scented  vernal  

1043 

3.41 

43.48 

36.36 

6.36 

SECOND.      AS   TAKEN   FROM   THE   FIELD   IN   BLOSSOM. 


Without  Drying,  100  Parts  of 

1 

c3 

Flesh 
Forming 
Principles. 

*s 

*! 

Heat 
Producing 
Principles. 

11 

£^ 

Blue  grass  give  

67.14 

3.41 

086 

1415 

1249 

Orchard  grass  

70.00 

4.06 

0.94 

13.30 

10  11 

Timothy  

57.21 

4.86 

1.50 

22.85 

11  32 

Red  clover 

8101 

4.27 

069 

845 

376 

AVhite  clover 

7971 

i380 

089 

8  14 

538 

Sweet  scented  vernal  

80.35 

2.05 

0.67 

8.54 

7.15 

There  is,  in  all  pastures,  a  number  of  bare  spots  that  seem 
to  resist  the  efforts  of  blue  grass  to  sod.  By  mixing  other 
seeds  with  the  blue  grass,  these  spots  can  be  made  to  pro- 
duce as  well  as  other  places.  In  a  natural  meadow,  by  care- 
ful counting,  several  species  are  often  found  growing  inti- 
mately on  every  inch  of  earth.  On  a  good  natural  pasture 
in  one  square  foot  of  sod,  there  have  been  counted  1,000 
plants,  consisting  of  twenty  distinct  species.  This  is  nature's 
own  arrangement,  and  may  be  safely  copied.  In  such  a 


(77) 

pasture  not  an  inch  of  surface  is  unoccupied.  It  may  be 
thought  an  inch  or  two  here  and  there  makes  but  little  dif- 
ference in  the  space  occupied.  But  every  blade  of  grass  is 
of  some  importance,  and  it  is  astonishing  the  aggregate  of 
these  barren  places. 

Now,  once  more,  let  it  be  urged  on  the  farmers  of  Ten- 
nessee to  look  into  this  matter  of  pastures,  and  provide 
themselves  with  this  highly  important  adjunct  to  every  farm. 
No  home  is  complete  without  pastures,  and  yet  there  are 
many  who  will  depend  either  upon  the  fortuitous  wild 
grasses  for  grazing,  or  feed  their  stock  from  the  crib  all 
through  the  year.  With  a  rich  blue  grass  lot,  no  stock 
need  be  fed,  except  while  at  work,  and,  indeed,  it  is  some- 
times the  case  that  in  dry,  scarce  years,  crops  have  been 
made  with  horses  and  mules  that  had  no  other  provender 
than  a  blue  grass  lot. 

- 


SHEEP'S  FESCUE— (Festuca  ovina— Perennial.) 

The  fescue  grasses  are  very  popular  in  New  England,  and 
grow  well  in  Tennessee,  having  been  introduced  in  some  lo- 
calities. They  are  perennial,  and  grow  in  tufts,  and  from 
their  profuse  foliage  they  form  excellent  pasturage  for  cattle, 
and  especially  for  sheep,  hence  the  name  of  one  variety. 
Mixed  with  other  grasses  the  sheep's  fescue  would  be  a 
good  addition  to  our  native  grasses.  It  would  be  especially 
useful  on  dry  hill- sides,  or  sandy,  old  fields,  where  blue 
grass  will  not  thrive  well.  It  has  long  leaves,  and  they  are 
much  sought  for  by  cattle.  It  has  been  grown  extensively 
in  East  Tennessee,  and  is  grown  in  some  localities  in  David- 
son county,  without  much  success.  The  Hon.  Staunton  Gould 
says  this  grass  forms  the  great  bulk  of  the  sheep  pastures  of 
of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  where  it  is  the  favorite  food 


(78) 

the  sheep,  and  where  the  shepherds  be- 
lieve it  to  be  more  nutritious  for  flocks 
than  any  other.  Gmelin  says  the  Tartars 
choose  to  encamp  during  the  summer 
where  this  grass  is  most  abundant,  be- 
cause they  believe  it  to  be  the  most 
wholesome  for  all  cattle,  but  especially  lor 
sheep.  Linnaeus  asserts  that  sheep  have 
no  relish  for  hills  and  heaths  without  it. 
It  grows  in  dry  sandy  soils,  where  all 
other  vegetation  parches  up.  The  roots 
are  long,  turf  short  and  dense,  making 
it  well  suited  for  lawns.  It  retains 
its  verdure  during  the  most  extended 
droughts.  It  will  not  bear  maturing,  for 
then  it  is  dispossessed  by  other  grasses. 
Its  great  value  is  for  pasturage  upon 
sandy  soils.  It  will  suit  the  Cumber- 
land Table-land.  The  Woburn  experi- 
ments showed  that,  cut  at  the  time  of 
flowering,  the  product  of  one  acre  was 
5,445  pounds,  which  gave  212  pounds  of 
nutritive  matter.  The  same  number  of 
pounds  was  obtained,  cut  when  the  seeds  were  ripe,  but 
there  were  only  127  pounds  of  nutritive  matter.  The  after- 
math yielded  3,403  pounds  of  hay,  having  66  pounds  of 
nutritive  matter.  From  this  it  appears  that  there  is  a  dif- 
ference between  the  results  obtained  by  chemists  and  prac- 
tical feeders  as  to  its  nutritive  properties. 


(79) 


MEADOW  FESCUE— RANDALL  GRASS-EVERGREEN 
GRASS — (Festuca  pratemis.) 

This  grass  has  received  some  attention 
in  different  parts  of  the  State,  and  has 
met  with  a  warm  reception  from  those 
testing  it.  It  ripens  its  seed  long  before 
any  other  grass,  and,  consequently,  af- 
fords a  very  early  nip  to  cattle.  It  has 
been  raised  under  various  names,  in 
Virginia,  as  "Randall  Grass,"  in  North 
Carolina  as  "  Evergreen  Grass."  In  the 
mountain  lands  of  Virginia,  a  writer 
says :  "  The  variety  of  forage  best  adapted 
to  sheep-grazing  on  the  mountain  lands 
is  the  "  Randall,"  a  tall,  coarse  grass, 
growing  freely  on  the  rocky  soil  to  a 
height  of  six  feet,  remaining  green  and 
affording  fine  herbage  all  the  winter." 

Mr.  James  Taylor,  writing  to  the  Ag- 
ricultural Bureau  from  North  Carolina, 
says : 

"  The  evergreen  grass  is  very  good  for 
pasturing  through  the  fall  and  winter. 
I  have  no  knowledge  of  its  origin.  It 
will  do  best  when  sown  on  dry  land,  and 
iswell  adapted  to  sheep.  It  grows  well 
on  rocky  soil,  to  the  height  of  four  or  five  feet  when  ripe, 
continuing  green  in  the  spring,  and  affording  fine  herbage 
throughout  the  winter.  It  is  best  to  sow  in  the  spring  with 
oats.  A  peck  of  well  cleaned  seed  is  enough  for  an  acre,  or 
a  bushel  in  the  chaff.  It  ripens  about  the  first  of  June,  or 
a  little  before  rye  harvest,  and  is  cut  with  scythe  and  cradle 
as  we  cut  rye. 


(80) 
TALL  FESCUE  GRASS— (Fesluca  elatiar.) 

This  is  a  variety  of  the  same,  naturalized  from  Europe, 
and  suited  to  a  rich  loam,  such  as  is  found  in  the  Central 
Basin.  The  Woburn  experiments  show  it  to  yield  more 
nutricious  matter  per  acre,  when  cut  in  flower,  than  any 
other  grass,  cut  either  in  flower  or  seed.  The  number  of 
pounds  obtained  was  51,046,  which  weighed,  when  dry, 
17,866  pounds,  loss  in  drying,  33,180  pounds  and  furnished 
3,988  pounds  of  nutritive  extract. 

There  are  several  other  fescue  grasses,  as  the  Spiked 
Fescue,  (F.  loleacea),  Hard  Fescue,  (F.  duriuseula),  and  the 
Nodding  Fescue,  (F.  utans),  all  indigenous  to  this  country. 
The  last  two  are  good  hay  grasses,  as  well  as  the  Meadow 
Fescue.  The  Hard  Fescue  was  analyzed  by  Way  and  found 
to  contain  water,  69.33;  flesh-formers,  3.70;  flit,  1.02;  heat- 
producers,  12.46;  woody  fibre,  11.83;  ash,  1.66.  The  Wo- 
burn experiments  gave  as  the  produce  of  one  acre,  18,376 
pounds,  cut  in  flower;  loss  in  drying,  10,116  pounds;  nutri- 
tive matter,  1,004  pounds.  Cut  in  seed,  the  produce 
weighed  19,075  pounds,  loss  in  drying,  10,481  pounds,  leav- 
ing nutritive  extract,  446  pounds.  It  grows  well  on  a 
sandy  loam.  The  seeds  weigh  ten  pounds  to  the  bushel. 


TALL  MEADOW  OAT  GKASS— (Arrhenatherum  avenaceum.) 

This  grass  is  very  popular  in  France,  from  whence  it  was 
introduced,  and  is  there  known  by  the  name  of  "  Ray 
Grass." 

It  will  grow  well  on  any  land  that  produces  clover.  Its 
limit  is  about  1,500  feet  above  the  sea.  It  grows  quickly 
and  forms  a  very  excellent  grass  for  early  pasturage,  prob- 
ably earlier  than  any  other.  It  is  mown  down  for  hay,  and 
after  cutting,  it  throws  up  a  perfect  mat  of  aftermath,  that 
will  yield  an  extremely  rich  pasture.  It  was  only  intro- 


(81) 

dnced  into  Tennessee  a  few  years  ago,  and  it  has  received 
extravagant  praises,  as  is  usual  with  new  in  troductions. 
It  succeeds  well   in  West  Tennessee,    and  will  probably 

suit  that  locality  better  than  any 
other  grass,  except  Herd's  grass. 
It  would  form  a  good  grass  to 
mix  with  others,  such  as  timo- 
thy, Herd's  grass,  clover  or  blue 
grass. 

The  analysis  of  the  hay  by 
Way,  is  as  follows  :  Flesh-form- 
ers, 12.95;  fatty  matters,  3.19. 
heat-producing  principles,  38.03  . 
woody  fibre,  34.24  ;  mineral  mat- 
ters, 11.59. 

This  shows  it  to  rank  as  a  nu- 
tritious grass,  among  the  best  of 
the  meadow  grasses,  and  almost 
equal  to  any  of  the  pasture  grass- 
es, though  it  is  said  cattle  and 
sheep  do  not  like  to  be  confined 
to  it  alone.  The  produce  from 
an  acre  from  Mr.  Sinclair's  ex- 
periments at  Woburn,  was  17,015 
pounds;  loss  in  drying,  11,635 
pounds ;  nutritive  matter,  664 
pounds.  Cut  when  the  seeds 
were  ripe  the  weight  was  16,335  pounds;  loss  in  drying, 
10,617  pounds;  nutritive  matter  255  pounds.  Weight  of 
aftermath,  13,612  pounds;  nutritive  matter  of  which  wa& 
265  pounds. 


(82) 

SWEET-SCENTED    VERNAL    QHA.SS—(Anthoxanthum    odo- 
ratum.) 

This  grass  was  introduced  from  Europe, 
and  possesses  rather  poor  qualities  as  a 
pasture  grass,  as  neither  sheep  nor  cattle 
relish  it.  It  is  early,  however,  and  hardy. 
It  is  one  of  the  first  as  well  as  one  of  the 
last  grasses  that  appear.  Its  nutritive 
qualities  are  said  to  exist  to  a  much  larger 
extent  in  the  fall  than  in* the  spring,  and 
greater  when  cut  at  maturity  than  in 
bloom.  It  has  a  mixture  of  benzoic  acid 
among  its  constituents,  which  imparts  to 
it  a  highly  aromatic  character,  and  this 
is  so  strong  that  other  grasses  with  which 
it  may  be  mixed  are  affected  by  it.  It 
is  not  in  general  use  in  Tennessee,  but 
would  probably  add  to  the  value  of  pas- 
tures if  sown  with  other  grasses.  Cows 
running  on  it  are,  by  some,  said  to  give 
a  rich  milk  and  highly  flavored  butter, 
but  Mr.  Gould  thinks  this  is  an  error. 
It  may  be  known  by  rubbing  its  green 
leaves  in  the  fingers,  to  which  it  yields  its  scent.  On  cer- 
tain soils  favorable  to  its  growth,  it  will  root  out  almost 
every  other  kind  and  take  complete  possession.  Its  seeds 
have  a  spiral  awn,  and  when  taken  in  the  hand,  affected  by 
its  moisture,  the  awns  will  uncoil,  and  the  seeds  will  appear 
to  move  as  insects.  There  are  six  or  seven  pounds  in  a 
bushel,  and  nine  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand  two 
hundred  in  a  pound.  Its  analysis,  according  to  Way,  rauks 
it,  when  dry,  a  little  higher  than  blue  grass,  as  follows 
Flesh- formers,  10.43;  fatty  matters,  3.41 ;  and  heat-produ- 
cing principles,  43.48.  Blue  grass  gives,  flesh-formers^ 
10.35;  fat,  2.63;  heat- producers,  43.06. 

The  best  test  of  all  grasses  is  their  effects  upon  animals 


(83) 

If  animals  thrive  and  fatten  upon  any  grass,  and  that  grass 
is  perennial,  hardy  and  durable,  it  is  a  good  pasture  grass; 
otherwise  not,  whatever  individual  experiments  in  the  lab- 
ratory  may  indicate.  We  know  that  stock  of  all  kinds  eat 
blue  grass  voraciously  and  thrive  upon  it;  we  know,  also, 
that  they  do  not  like  the  anthoxanthum.  Both  are  alike 
hardy  and  durable.  Therefore  the  blue  grass,  upon  suitable 
soils,  is  to  be  preferred,  whatever  chemical  research  may 
determine. 


WHITE  CLOVER—  (Trifolium  repens.) 

White  clover  has  been  lauded  to  the  skies  by  some,  and 
by  others  depreciated  as  a  vile  weed.  It  is  beyond  question, 
next  to  blue  grass,  one  of  our  most  valuable  grazing  plants. 
Its  analysis  shows  it  to  be  equal  to  red  clover  in  most  re- 
spects, and  superior  as  a  fat  producing  plant. 

It  is  to  the  pasture  what  red  clover  is  to  the  meadow, 
and  is  a  suitable  food  not  only  for  cattle  and  horses,  but  for 
hogs.  They  thrive  amazingly  on  it.  After  the  first  flower- 
ing it  salivates  horses,  but  has  no  such 
effect  upon  cattle  or  sheep.  As  a  hon- 
ey-producing flower,  the  white  clover 
is  not  surpassed  by  any  plant,  the 
florets,  some  years,  being  almost  full 
of  syrup. 

It  varies  very  much  in  different 
years,  sometimes  almost  disappearing, 
then  again,  another  year,  being  thick 
in  every  pasture.  So  much  is  this  the 
case,  that  we  have  what  are  called? 
"  white  clover  years."  This  is  due  to  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  rain.  When  there  is  a  wet  spring  white  clover 
appears  in  great  luxuriance  everywhere,  and  in  dry  weather 
it  only  shows  itself  in  abundance  on  moist  lands. 


(84) 


It  is  indigenous  to  both  Europe  and  the  United  States* 
and,  though  growing  everywhere  here,  it  has  to  be  sown  on 
the  Northern  pastures.  Here  it  comes  spontaneously,  al- 
most taking  every  other  grass,  and  sometimes  destroying 
other  grasses.  It  is  an  invaluable  accompaniment  of  blue 
grass,  especially  triumphant  where  the  blue  grass  is  pastured 
too  heavily. 

The  comparative  value  of  white  and  red  clover,  cut  in 
bloom,  may  be  seen  by  the  following  analyses  by  Prof. 
Way: 


_• 

s 

E 

, 

e 

^ 

-fel 

^ 

11 

<8  ^ 

p^ 

rt 

o 

<< 

£ 

fe«0 

w 

£ 

Red  Clover  

81  01 

4.27 

.69 

845 

3.76- 

1  82 

White  Clover  

79.71 

3.80 

.89 

8.14 

6.38 

2.08 

JAPAN  CIOVEK  OK  KING  GB  ASS— (Lexpedeza  striata.) 

It  has  been  but  a  few7  'years  since  this  rplant  has  been 
brought  to  notice  in  this  country,  though  its  existence  was 
mentioned  as  early  as  1784  by  Thunberg,  a  German  chem- 
ist, who  saw  it  growing  in  Japan.  About  the  year  1849  it 
was  noticed  in  the  vicinity  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  the  seeds 
baving  been  brought  probably  from  Japan  or  China  in  tea 
boxes.  A  short  while  afterwards  it  was  discovered  at  a  dis- 
tance of  forty  miles  from  Charleston,  and  still  later  near 
Macon,  Ga. 

Within  the  last  six  years  it  has  developed  itself  in  many 
of  the  counties  of  this  State,  especially  in  Henderson  and 
Warren,  where  it  is  covering  all  old  fields,  and  in  many 
instances  rooting  out  broom  grass  and  other  grasses,  show- 
ing itself  well  worthy  of  the  name  given  it  by  Mr.  Pendle- 
ton,  of  king  grass. 


(85) 

It  seems  especially  adapted  to  the  Southern  States,  not 
flourishing  above  36°,  growing  with  great  luxuriance  on  the 
poorest  soils  and  retaining  vitality  in  its  roots  in  the  sever- 
est droughts.  It  is  said  to  be  a  fine  plant  for  grazing,  and 
being  perennial  in  warm  climates,  needs  no  re-sowing  and 
but  little  attention.  On  soils  unfit  for  anything  else  it 
furnishes  good  pasture  and  supplies  a  heavy  green  crop  for 
turning  under  and  improving  the  land.  It  cannot  stand 
severe  cold,  and  in  high  latitudes  cannot  be  depended  on  as 
a  good  pasture  grass,  although  it  comes  up  and  supplies  an 
abundant  forage  for  a  few  months.  It  should  be  sown  ia 
January  or  February  in  the  Southern  States,  and  about  one 
bushel  of  seed  to  ten  acres  is  required  to  secure  a  good  stand 
the  first  year.  It  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  renovator  of  old 
fields,  and  to  bring  them  up  to  a  high  degree  of  fertility  in 
an  incredibly  short  space  of  time. 

Mr.  E.  M.  Pendleton,  of  Georgia,  speaking  of  it,  says : 
"  I  am  willing  to  concede  to  it  several  things  that  do  not 
apply  to  any  other  plant  we  have  ever  grown  in   this  lati- 
tude : 

1.  "(It  grows  on  poor  laud  with  more  luxuriance  than  any 
other  grass  or  weed  I  have  ever  seen ;   and  as  it  has  a  small 
leaf,  rather  contravenes  the  general  idea  of  vegetable  physi- 
ologists, that  large  leaved  plants  feed  mostly  on  the  atmos- 
phere.    I  suppose,  however,  that  this  deficiency  is  counter- 
acted to  a  large  extent  by  the  number  of  leaves,  for  they 
are  legion. 

2.  "It  has  great  powers  of  endurance,  so  far  as  the  roots 
are  concerned ;  but  the  branches  and  leaves  will  parch  and 
die  out  under  a  burning  sun  very  soon,  especially  where  k 
grows  sparsely.     During  a  wet  summer  it  luxuriates  where- 
ever  propegated  on  poor  hill-sides  as  well  as  meadow  lands. 
It  loves,  however,  rainy  seasons  on  thirsty  lands,  and  I  fear 
will  not  prove  to  be  all  we  desire  in  such  localities.     It, 
however,  reminds  us  of  an  anecdote  of  Mr.  Dickson,  whem 
lie  was  showing  some  gentlemen  his  farm  during  the  pre- 


(86) 

valence  of  a  severe  drought.  As  they  passed  through  a 
cornfield  in  which  some  of  the  stalks  were  actually  dying 
for  lack  of  moisture,  one  of  them  ^called  his  attention  to 
several  in  that  condition.  "Yes/7  said  he,  I  perceive  the 
fact — but  it  dies  game."  And  so  of  the  Japan  clover,  it 
dies  from  severe  drought,  but  rallies  again  as  soon  as  the 
rain  sets  in. 

3.  "  It  is  a  good  pasturage  for  stock,  and  I  think  would 
make  good  hay,  if  cut  and  cured.     This  I  intend  to  test  the 
present  season.     But  I  do  not  believe  that  our  stock  like  it 
as  well  as  the  native  grasses,  and  doubt  whether  it  is  as  nu- 
tritious as  the  Bermuda.     As  cattle  love  variety,  however, 
this  may  subserve  a  good  purpose  in  that  way.     My  opinion, 
however,  is,  from  not  very  close  observation  in  the  matter, 
that  they  would  soon  tire  out  on  it  exclusively. 

4.  "  It  furnishes  a  large  supply  of  vegetable  matter  to  the 
soil,  and  I  believe  will  prove  to  be  the  best  hum  as  making 
plant  we  have  at  the  South,  where  so   much  is  needed  from 
our  clean  cotton  culture.     As  it  is  said  to  be  difficult  to 
gather  the  seed  m  large  quantities,  I  intend   to  plow  up  the 
surface  where  it  has  seeded,  and  rake  up  the  grass  and  top 
soil,  and  sow  this  dirt  over  my  oat  and  wheat  fields,  and 
especially  on  the  poor  places.     My  opinion  is  that  a   most 
luxuriant  growth  of  this  clover  will  follow,  which  can  be 
turned  under  in  the  fall  while  green,  and  thus  furnish  not 
only  humus  but  nitrogen  to  the  soil. 

5.  "  Another  rare  quality  of  this  plant  is  indicated  in  the 
Dame  I  have  given  it — king  grass — in  the  fact  that  it  abso- 
lutely roots  out  and  destroys  every  living  plant  in  its  wide- 
spread path.     Not  even  old  Bermuda,  which  has  so  long 
held    undisputed    sway    over   his  circumscribed  fields,  can 
resist  its  encroaches.     I  have  a  bottom  long  since  given  up 
to  the  Bermuda.     Recently  I  passed  through  it  and  found 
that  the  Lespedezahad  almost  completely  throttled  it,  though 
like  Mr.  Dickson's  corn,  it  died  game,  as  here  and  there, 
peering  above  its  enemy,  could  be  seen  an  isolated  sprig  of 


(87) 

Bermuda,  which,  as  it  cannot  stand  shade,  will  have  to  yield 
entirely  before  the  close  of  another  season.  I  have  but 
little  doubt  that  any  pest  like  coco  or  Bermuda  could  be 
rooted  out  by  this  king  grass  in  a  few  years  in  any  locali- 
ty, and  would  recommend  it  to  be  sown  on  such  fields  if  for 
no  other  purpose.  I  intend  to  give  it  a  fair  trial  myself  on 
one  or  two  similar  localities." 

In  like  manner  the  Hon.  H.  W.  Ravenel,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, regards  it  with  great  favor,  and  thinks  its  timely  ap- 
pearance will  be  ultimately  a  source  of  great  wealth  to  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States.  Many  places  that  were  re- 
garded as  worthless  before  its  appearance,  are  now  made 
profitable  as  a  pasture,  with  the  aid  of  this  grass. 

Mr.  Samuel  McKamsey,  of  Warren  county,  says  this 
clover  made  its  appearrnce  in  that  locality  in  1870.  It  is 
fast  covering  the  whole  country.  It  supplies  much  grazing 
from  the  first  of  August  until  frost.  It  is  short,  but  very 
hardy.  Sheep  are  very  fond  of  it,  and  cattle  will  eat  it.  It 
is  killing  out  the  broomsedge  wherever  it  appears.  It  grows 
exceedingly  well  on  red  clay,  and  with  a  little  care  covers 
red  hillsides  that  are  much  too  common  all  over  the  State. 
If  it  will  do  this  and  destroy  the  broom  grass,  it  should  be 
cultivated.  It  is  not  good  for  meadow  and  is  only  valuable 
for  pasture. 

The  Hon.  M.  T.  Polk  considers  it  almost  worthless  for 
grazing,  having  inade  many  experiments  with  it.  His 
opinion  is  entitled  to  great  weight. 


(88) 


MANAGEMENT  OF  MEADOWS 


AND 


CONCERNING  MANURES. 


Meadows  exist  in  various  sections  of  the  State  to  a  lim- 
ited extent,  and  it  being  the  object  of  this  work  to  foster 
this  branch  of  agriculture  the  best  plans  for  encouraging 
and  treating  them  will  be  discussed.  The  subject  requires 
no  argument  to  encourage  it,  as  every  right-thinking  man 
will  see  at  a  glance  the  great  importance  of  growing  more 
hay.  It  is,  in  the  observation  of  every  one,  that  vast  amounts 
of  baled  hay  are  brought  by  rail  and  river  from  those 
Slates  already  embarked  in  the  cultivation  of  grasses. 
While  we  have  the  best  climate  in  the  United  States  for 
this  purpose,  as  already  stated,  we  have  a  soil  unparalleled 
for  fertility,  and  well  suited  to  almost  all  varieties  of  grass- 
es described,  and,  besides,  being  on  the  border  of  the  cotton 
States,  we  have  a  market  at  our  doors  for  our  surplus. 

If  we  do  this  our  country  will  assume  such  a  charming 
appearance  that  it  will  delight  the  eye  of  every  passenger 
who  travels  through  it  on  the  many  lines  of  railroads,  be- 
sides repaying  the  owners  all  the  care  bestowed  on  it.  Our 
citizens  are  not  so  much  to  blame  for  this  backwardness  in 
the  cultivation  of  the  grasses  as  would  appear  at  first  sight. 


(89) 

The  routine  established  before  the  war  was  hard  to  break 
up,  but  they  are  looking  around  for  some  more  profitable 
method  of  farming.  To  establish  meadows  is  the  part 
of  wisdom.  Just  how  to  do  this  we  propose  to  tell  here  as 
fully  as  our  space  will  permit.  We  shall  consider : 

1st.  The  preparation  of  meadow  lands. 

2nd.  Selection  of  suitable  seeds  for  sowing  and  method  of 
mixing. 

3rd.  Times  of  sowing  and  the  best  methods  of  securing 
stands. 

4th.  Cutting,  curing  and  storing  the  hay. 

5th.  Improvement  of  meadows. 

6th.     Manures  and  manner  of  their  application. 

PREPARATION  OF  MEADOW  LANDS. 

This  is  of  the  utmost  importance  when  we  reflect  that 
any  want  of  attention  to  all  the  details  necessary  to  insure 
success  involves  a  considerable  loss,  not  only  in  money  and 
labor,  but  also  in  the  length  of  time  required  to  undo  and 
correct  the  error.  God  sows  the  pastures  to  our  hands,  but 
man  must  sow  the  meadows.  A  man  may  think  he  is  pur- 
suing the  most  judicious  course  possible,  but  he  may  be  in 
error,  and  an  honest  mistake  does  not  free  the  farmer  from 
loss.  He  must  inform  himself  correctly  on  the  character 
of  the  land  to  be  sown,  and  then,  with  every  facility  at  his 
command,  acquaint  himself  with  the  grasses  best  adapted 
to  its  requirements. 

In  the  first  place,  though  many  varieties  of  grass  will 
grow  well  on  moist  land,  it  is  not  to  be  understood  that 
they  will  thrive  best  on  wet  lands.  When  the  water  stands 
on  the  surface  all  the  year,  the  character  of  the  hay  is  nearly 
worthless,  being  full  of  moisture  and  with  but  little  nutri- 
tive principles  in  it.  Consequently  it  is  very  important 
to  have  soils  properly  drained,  if  they  require  it.  It  will 
largely  increase  the  quantity  and  greatly  improve  the 
quality  of  the  crop.  With  the  soil  full  of  moisture  it  be- 


(90) 

comes  sour  and,  though  full  of  fertility,  it  is  unavailable  to 
the  plant.  With  wet  soil,  it  is  impossible  to  put  the  land 
in  a  proper  state  of  tilth.  So  all  things  point  to  the  neces- 
sity of  drainage. 

It  may  be  proper  to  state  that  every  piece  of  ground  on 
which  water  will  stand  two  hours  after  a  rain,  will  be  bene- 
fitted  by  a  system  of  drainage.  This  seems  to  the  South- 
erner to  be  such  a  stupendous  undertaking  that  nearly 
every  one  is  discouraged  from  making  the  effort.  When  it 
is  supposed  that  draining  can  only  be  effected  by  ditching 
in  every  direction,  and  laying  great  stretches  of  pipes,  the 
undertaking  does  seem  indeed  to  be  very  costly. 

The  method  of  pipe-laying  is  the  best,  and  as  our  farmers 
see  the  good  effects  of  a  cheaper  method,  they  will  gradu- 
ally, and  by  slow  degrees,  come  to  practice  the  more  sub- 
stantial methods.  A  Northern  land  owner  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  spend  fifty  or  seventy- five  dollars  on  a  single  acre, 
when  he  can  bring  into  cultivation  a  choice  piece  of  bottom. 
But  the  Hollanders  surpass  every  other  people  on  earth  in 
this  particular.  Nearly  every  foot  of  land  they  own  has 
been  reclaimed  from  the  sea  by  a  system  of  dykes,  levees 
and  ditches.  Their  lands  being  lower  than  the  water- 
courses that  run  through  them,  their  only  resource  is  to  lift 
the  waters  that  are  collected  in  the  ditches  by  means  of 
steam  pumps.  This  is  done,  it  is  true,  at  the  expense  of 
the  public,  but  the  farmers  pay  an  annual  tax  to  keep  it  up, 
or  they  would  soon  be  flooded  by  the  accumulating  waters 
that  penetrate  the  soil  from  every  side. 

There  are  many  methods  of  draining  land,  but  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  the  method  of  doing  it  as  effectually  as 
the  Dutch,  but  at  such  an  expense  that  even  a  renter  can 
afford  it,  for  the  increase  of  one  year's  crop.  A  German 
gardener  of  New  York  leased  ten  acre?  of  land  that  proved 
to  be  boggy,  and  the  first  three  years  his  crops,  in  spite  of 
all  the  attention  he  could  give  them,  barely  paid  rent  and 
supported  him.  He  was  advised  to  try  draining,  and  al- 


(91) 

though  but  seven  years  were  left  of  his  lease,  he  did  it  at 
a  cost  of  $500.  The  result  fully  justified  the  expense,  for 
in  the  remaining  seven  years  he  made,  over  and  above  all 
expenses,  money  enough  to  pay  $12,000  for  the  farm  he  had 
drained.  No  land  can  produce  well  without  the  aid  of  heat 
and  proper  aeration.  If  the  soil  is  full  of  water  it  will  be 
impervious  to  the  air,  and  the  water  will  also  counteract 
the  effects  of  the  sun's  rays,  and  the  ground  will  be  cold 
and  lifeless.  Without  the  influence  of  heat  and  air,  neces- 
sary chemical  changes  in  the  constituents  of  the  soil  cannot 
take  place,  consequently  the  roots  fail  to  find  the  nourish- 
ment they  are  seeking — they  fail  to  penetrate  the  soil  to  a 
sufficient  depth,  and  instead  of  a  rich  subsoil,  there  will  only 
be  surface  soil  to  support  vegetation.  That  soon  becomes 
exhausted,  and  the  land  appears  worn  out.  Draining  opens 
up  a  mine  of  fertilizers  below,  the  roots  run  quickly  down 
to  it,  and  there  is  no  question  that  the  crops  are  greatly 
increased.  There  is  much  land  in  our  State  that  would  be 
greatly  improved  by  draining.  The  soils  that  will  b*>  im- 
proved can  be  ascertained,  during  the  wet  season,  by  digging 
a  hole  in  the  fields  and  watching  the  height  to  which  the 
water  rises.  In  many  places  it  will  remain  almost  on  a 
level  nearly  all  winter;  in  others  showing  itself  one,  two  or 
three  feet  below  it.  And  this,  too,  on  rolling  lands  that  are 
supposed  to  be  dry  enough.  Not  only  are  the  wet  lands 
made  dryer,  but  the  dry  lands  made  wetter.  This  is  effected 
by  the  soil  becoming  porous,  so  as  to  better  admit  the  mois- 
ture of  rains  and  dews.  It  is  made  warmer,  and  conse- 
quently frosts  will  have  less  effect,  there  being  less  moisture 
to  freeze  on  the  surface.  And  besides,  by  being  warmer 
the  crops  come  on  earlier. 

Our  northern  farmers  practice  almost  exclusively  tile 
draining.  This  is  a  costly  mode,  and  if  it  were  the  only 
way  our  farmers  would  be  frightened  at  once  from  the  effort. 
But  so  thoroughly  is  this  plan  practiced,  that  it  is  no  longer 
an  experiment.  Some  counties  in  Ohio  have  spent  the  pub- 


(92) 

lie  funds  in  digging  and  draining  the  mains,  so  that  farmers 
<?an  lay  their  drains  into  them.  Wood  county,  Ohio,  in 
1867,  spent  in  one  year  $500,000  in  digging  mains.  One 
drain  was  dug  thirty  miles  long,  and  six  feet  deep,  while 
the  districls  dug  four  hundred  miles  more. 

The  Agricultural  College  of  Michigan  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  investigate  the  effects  of  draining.  They  bought 
twenty  five  acres  of  swampy  land,  covered  with  bog-grass, 
rushes,  flags  and  other  worthless  vegetation.  They  laid 
about  800  yards  of  tiles  at  an  expense  of  $480,  and  sowed  it 
in  grass.  At  the  first  cntting  the  crop  was  sold  for  $1,570, 
leaving  a  clear  profit,  the  first  year,  over  all  expenses,  of 
$548.70,  and  the  second  year  they  cleared  $975.  This 
was  on  land  that,  before  draining,  produced  absolutely 
nothing. 

But  a  drain  can  be  made  in  a  much  cheaper  manner  than 
by  tiles.  Should  there  be  plenty  of  surface  rock  near,  lay 
one  on  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  one  on  each  side  of  the  bot- 
tom rock,  and  cover  with  a  fourth.  Or,  instead  of  using 
four  rocks,  a  very  good  ditch  can  be  made  by  tilting  two  flat 
rocks  to  each  other  so  that  a  transverse  section  will  form  a 
A  shaped  tunnel,  and  if  there  is  a  firm  bed  to  the  ditch  it 
will  last  an  indefinite  length  of  time,  the  water  carrying  off 
the  loose  crumbs  of  clay. 

Still  another  plan  is  to  use,  instead  of  the  rocks,  poles  of 
any  kind  of  wood,  so  they  are  straight.  Lay  two  poles, 
say  four  or  five  inches  in  diameter,  parallel  to  each  other, 
leaving  a  space  of  six  inches  between  them,  and  then  lay 
another  pole  on  the  centre  space  so  that  the  edges  will  rest 
on  the  other  two,  leaving  an  open  space  five  or  six  inches 
in  diameter.  Then  throw  stubble,  straw,  weeds,  leaves  or 
cornstalks  over  the  poles,  and  indeed  over  the  rocks  also, 
and  there  will  be  a  good  ditch  without  the  outlay  of  any 
monf  y.  Of  course  the  loose  dirt  will  be  thrown  over  either 
the  rocks  or  logs.  Timber  under  ground  in  this  way  will 
last  a  long  time. 


(93) 

But  there  is  still  another  plan,  in  case  the  soil  has  any 
descent,  and  there  are  few  lands  in  Tennessee  without  it,, 
and  that  is  by  means  of  a  subsoil  plow.  Let  a  stout  subsoil 
plow  follow  in  the  furrow  of  a  turning  plow,  both  drawn  by 
stout  teams,  and  send  the  subsoiler  at  least  two  feet  deep. 
Let  the  furrows  run  up  and  down  the  hill  so  as  to  give  a 
regular  descent  to  the  water,  and  the  hard  pan  broken  up 
by  the  subsoil  will  carry  off  all  superfluous  water  after  rains 
in  a  very  short  time.  This  process  is  so  effective  that  it  is 
pursued  in  some  sections  to  the  exclusion,  entirely,  of  reg- 
ular draining.  It  will  have  to  be  repeated  at  intervals  of 
three  or  four  years,  and  there  will  be  but  little  disturbance 
to  the  sod,  as  the  subsoiler  has  only  an  iron  bar  for  a  helve, 
which  raises  the  surface  so  slightly  it  can  easily  be  pressed 
back  with  a  roller. 

From  all  the  testimony  to  be  gathered  on  this  subject,  it 
is  pretty  apparent  that  the  cost  of  draining  a  meadow  will 
be  paid  the  first  year  by  the  increased  production  of  the  crop. 
The  after- crops  will  be  profits  to  the  farmer. 

After  what  has  been  said  in  regard  to  almost  every  kind 
of  grass,  it  is  almost  needless  to  impress  on  the  mind  of  the 
farmer  the  necessity  of  thoroughly  pulverizing  the  soiL 
Let  it  be  well  acd  deeply  broken  up,  and  then  with  the 
harrow,  drag  and  roller  continue  to  work  it  until  it  is 
smooth  and  not  a  clod  appears  on  the  surface.  The  roots  of 
grasses  are  exceedingly  delicate  and  cannot  penetrate  the 
bard,  dry  lumps  of  soil,  but  will  exhaust  their  energies  in 
going  around  or  under  them.  Besides,  in  exactly  the  same 
proportion  as  the  clods  exist,  are  the  nourishing  elements 
locked  up  from  the  use  of  the  grass.  Another  reason : 
when  clods  exist  in  great  numbers,  the  ground  will  be  rough 
and  the  seed  will  not  get  into  the  soil,  or  will  get  in  too 
deep  to  germinate.  Thus  seeds  are  lost  and  the  stand  im- 
paired. 

It  is  needless  to  say  the  soil  must  be  fertile,  for  nothing 
will  thrive  well  on  poor  soil.     If  it  is  not  rich  it   must  be 


(94) 

made  so.  Should  it  be  desired  to  sow  a  field  that  has  been 
greatly  exhausted,  a  plan  pursued  in  England  is  com- 
mended. The  fall  previous  to  sowing,  the  field  is  put  in 
turnips.  During  the  winter,  by  means  of  hurdles,  a  flock 
of  sheep  is  confined  to  a  portion  of  the  field,  and  they  are 
not  allowed  to  leave  until  every  vestige  of  the  turnips  is 
exhausted.  By  this  time  the  ground  will  be  black  with 
their  droppings.  In  this  manner  the  whole  field,  acre  by 
acre,  is  gone  over  and  the  ground  has  a  fine  covering  of  ma- 
nure. We  will  suppose  this  consumes  the  winter.  In  the 
spring  break  up,  or  to  break  up  just  as  soon  as  the  sheep 
are  removed  is  better,  and  sow  with  peas.  When  this  crop 
is  in  full  bearing  let  on  both  hogs  and  sheep,  and  it  will 
amply  repay  all  its  preparation  by  the  manner  in  which  the 
stock  will  thrive,  and  they  will  again  bestow  on  it  a  cover- 
ing of  fine  manure.  Now  the  ground  is  well  manured  and 
fully  capable  of  giving,  in  return  for  the  care  bestowed,  a 
bountiful  crop  the  first  year.  Of  course  it  must  be  again 
broken  and  pulverized  as  before  mentioned.  This  not  only 
pays  better  than  letting  it  lie  in  fallow,  but  it  keeps  down 
weeds.  When  ground  is  fallowed,  there  will  be  generally 
an  interval  of  neglect,  and  the  weeds,  ever  watchful  for  a 
chance,  will  spring  up,  mature  their  seeds  and  sow  them,  to 
the  trouble  and  vexation  of  the  farmer  afterward. 

SELECTION     OF     SUITABLE    SEEDS   AND    BEST     METHOD     OF 
MIXING   THEM. 

Whatever  the  character  of  the  soil  to  be  converted  into 
a  meadow,  a  suitable  grass  will  be  found  in  our  list.  There 
are  grasses  for  rocky  land,  sandy  land,  bottom  land,  upland, 
or  calcareous  land,  and  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  refer 
the  reader  to  the  large  list  from  which  to  select,  as  the  kind 
of  land  to  which  they  are  adapted  is  clearly  shown  in  each 
descriptive  article. 

It  is  well  known  to  every  farmer  that  some  grasses  will 
not  thrive  on  certain  characters  of  soil.  What  grasses  to 


(95) 

sow  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  farmer,  as  only  an 
extended  experience  will  be  able  to  show  under  every  cir- 
cumstance the  peculiarities  of  the  land  to  be  sown.  Under 
certain  conditions,  too,  it  may  be  preferable  to  put  tht.  land 
down  in  clover,  whatever  kind  of  soil  it  may  be;  especially 
is  this  the  case  where  the  land,  from  long  cultivation,  is  not 
in  good  heart.  It  must  be  remembered  that,  if  a  field  has, 
by  long  continued  cultivation,  without  rotation,  been  so 
reduced  in  fertility  that  it  will  not  produce  remunerative 
crops,  it  will  not  produce  any  kind  of  grass  in  paying  quan- 
tities, until  some  of  its  vitality  has  been  restored.  If  a 
farmer  fattens  stock  from  the  produce  of  his  own  farm,  it 
follows  that  whatever  goes  to  produce  bone,  muscle,  and 
blood,  is  so  much  substance  taken  from  the  soil,  and  restitu- 
tion is  demanded. 

When  the  earth  is  covered  with  grasses,  and  they  are 
plowed  under,  and  converted  into  vegetable  mould,  not 
only  does  the  land  receive  what  has  been  taken  from  it, 
but  there  is  added,  a  vast  amount  of  substances  extracted 
from  the  atmosphere,  such  as  carbon,  ammonia,  nitrogen 
and  oxygen,  and  in  that  way  the  land  is  constantly  im- 
proved. It  is  in  this  way  that  nature  renews  herself,  and 
fv  piece  of  land  left  to  her  care,  will,  after  the  lapse  of  a  few 
years,  regain  its  fertility.  But  the  necessities  of  man  are 
such  he  cannot  await  this  slow  process,  and  therefore,  it  is 
that  he  must,  to  bring  about  the  same  result  sooner,  resort 
to  the  expedient  of  plowing  in  green  crops.  Various  kinds 
of  green  manuring  crops  are  used  for  this  purpose.  In  the 
selection  of  a  crop  to  plow  under,  one  thing  should  be  kept 
prominently  in  view,  and  that  is,  select  such  crops  as  derive 
their  nourishment  in  great  part  from  the  air.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  by  many  experiments  that  the  legumins  do 
thi-  more  effectually  than  any  other  class.  Among  these 
none  are  so  effectual  as  the  different  kinds  of  clover.  They 
not  only  enrich  the  land  by  the  great  mass  of  foliage  and 
stems,  but  also,  by  their  mechanical  displacement  of  the  soil, 


(96) 

loosen  and  pulverize  it.  Next  to  the  clovers  are  peas. 
They,  it  is  true,  do  not  have  the  same  extensive  system  of 
roots,  but,  if  possible,  they  grow  and  exist  more  from  at- 
mospheric influences  than  any  other  plant. 

After  the  selection  of  the  kinds  of  grass  to  be  sown,  the 
next  consideration  is  to  select  good  seed.  How  often  has  it 
occurred  to  every  farmer  to  see  the  result  of  all  his  toil  and 
expense  culminate  in  failure  for  want  of  good  seed  !  It  does 
not  always  occur  to  the  sower  that  his  seeds  are  defective 
through  age,  or  through  mixing  noxious  seeds  with  the 
grass  seeds.  The  high  price  that  seeds  command  is  a  great 
temptation  to  the  dishonest  dealer.  Sometimes  it  happens 
that  good  seeds  are  kept  until  they  have  lost  their  power  of 
germinating.  It  is  better  to  save  seed  from  the  farm  if  pos- 
sible. It  involves  but  little  care  to  do  so,  and  is  an  actual 
saving  to  the  farmer,  and  then  he  knows  what  he  is  sowing. 
Should  it  be  necessary,  however,  to  buy  seeds,  always  delay 
a  few  days  to  test  them.  This  is  easily  done  by  placing  a 
certain  ascertained  number  on  a  wet  cloth  folded  several 
times  to  retain  moisture,  and  covering  them  over  with  a 
single  thickness  of  the  same.  Keep  the  cloth  damp  a  few 
days  and  the  good  ones  will  swell  up  and  sprout,  while  the 
defective  ones  will  be  covered  over,  with  mould.  Count  the 
sprouts,  and,  by  an  easy  computation,  one  can  then  ascertain 
the  proportion  of  good  seeds.  Then  sow  in  the  proportion 
and  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  securing  a  stand.  The 
wisdom  of  this  precaution  may  be  known  when  it  is  stated 
that  nearly  all  the  grass  seeds  are  worthless  at  the  end  of 
three  years,  only  a  small  proportion  of  them  germinating. 
Even  clover  seeds,  that  will  keep  their  vitality  when  in  the 
ground  and  covered  up,  will  lose  this  vitality  in  four  or  five 
years,  if  exposed  to  the  atmosphere.  The  millets  are 
scarcely  worth  sowing  after  the  second  year. 

No  pasture,  however  luxuriant,  is  found  to  consist  of  one 
grass  alone.  In  all  meadows  sown  alone,  there  will  be 
found  naked  spots,  and  these  seem  to  depend  upon  some 


(97) 

incompatibility  of  the  soil,  at  that  point,  with  the  grass 
sown.  These  spots  would  be  occupied  possibly  by  other 
species  if  sown,  and  thus  the  whole  surface  would  he  cov- 
ered. Some  grasses  are  disposed  to  turf  the  ground,  while 
others  form  tussocks,  therefore  it  is  best  to  mix,  if  sowing  a 
tussock  grass,  a  grass  that  will  turf  well.  Some  grasses 
have  a  heavy  undergrowth  of  surface  foliage,  while  others 
have  this  sparingly.  These  two  peculiarities  would  be  done 
away  with  if  the  two  were  combined. 

It  is  not,  however,  proper  to  combine  the  pasture  grasses 
with  the  meadow  grasses.  As  a  rule  the  former  have  creep- 
ing roots  and  are  more  vigorous  than  the  latter,  and  they 
would  soon  overpower  them  and  destroy  the  meadow.  This, 
of  course,  is  spoken  in  reference  to  the  perennial  pasture 
grasses. 

Another  condition  of  mixing  is  the  number  to  be  com- 
bined. As  a  rule,  it  is  beyond  question  that  a  meadow- 
sown  with  a  variety  of  seeds  will  do  better  and  make  more 
hay  than  when  one  kind  is  used.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to 
explain  why,  but  nature  does  it,  and  she  rarely  errs  in  her 
primitive  growth. 

A  custom  prevails  among  the  grass  farmers  of  the  North 
and  East  to  mix  a  great  number  together — some  having 
as  many  as  a  dozen  different  kinds  on  one  meadow.  In 
this  way  those  vacant  spots  we  have  spoken  of  will  be  filled 
up  with  selected  seeds  instead  of  seeds  of  an  inferior  or 
noxious  sort.  The  ground  will  be  covered,  and  it  is  better 
to  select  the  best  varieties.  The  more  especially  is  this  the 
case  when  it  is  expected,  as  most  farmers  will  do,  to  pas- 
ture to  some  extent  the  meadow,  or  when  it  is  wished  to 
train  it  as  a  meadow  a  few  years  and  ultimately  let  it  pass 
into  a  grazing  lot.  It  is  quite  a  common  custom  in  this 
State  to  mix  clover  and  orchard  grass,  or  clover  and  Herd's 
grass,  or  clover  and  timothy,  and  sometimes  timothy  and 
Herd's  grass  are  mixed,  and  this  is  about  the  extent  of  mix- 
ing done. 
7 


(98) 

In  the  great  meadows  of  the  Northwestern  and  New 
England  States  where  grass  culture  has  been  practiced  for 
years,  it  has  been  demonstrated  often  that  the  admixture  of 
several  varieties  increases  many  fold  the  yield  of  grass,  even 
if  not  wanted  for  pasturage.  It  secures  an  early  stand,  and 
if  the  ground  fails  to  suit  one  specis  another  will  flourish, 
and  thus  all  vacant  spots  are  covered.  These  spots  of  even 
an  inch  or  two  may  seem  insignificant,  but  when  they  are 
multiplied  all  over  a  large  field  they  will  materially  affect 
the  yield.  The  crop  is  made  up  of  single  stalks,  and  every 
stem  is  of  importance  in  the  aggregation. 

It  should  be  kept  in  mind  in  the  selection  of  seeds  to  put 
those  together  that  will  blossom  at  the  same  time,  unless  it 
is  intended  for  a  pasture,  in  which  case  the  reverse  should 
be  considered,  for  then  it  is  best  to  so  arrange  it  as  to  have 
a  succession  of  ripening  crops,  and  the  stock  can  be  sup- 
plied throughout  the  year  with  such  grasses  as  will  be 
young,  tender  and  succulent. 

Some  require  or  are  improved  by  the  tramping  of  stock. 
If  left  to  themselves  they  have  a  tendency  to  tuft  or  spring 
out  of  the  soil  until  their  roots  are  exposed,  when  they  fall 
a  prey  to  the  sun  or  to  the  freezes.  These  tufts  or  tussocks, 
as  they  are  also  called,  will  leave  at  least  half  the  ground 
bare,  and  thus,  also,  much  of  the  hay  is  lost.  But  if  tramped 
by  stock  the  grass  is  pressed  back  into  the  soil  and  a  turf  is 
kept  up  that  covers  the  whole  surface. 

Some  of  the  grasses,  however,  as  timothy,  do  not  require 
and  will  not  bear  grazing  for  various  reasons.  These  grasses 
ought  not  to  be  mixed  with  those  that  are  benefitted  by 
timothy,  and  should  such  be  disposed  to  tuft,  the  use  of  a 
heavy  roller  is  the  only  remedy,  and  the  vacant  spaces  can 
easily  be  reset  by  sowing  seeds  of  the  same  or  other  varieties 
on  them,  and  then  giving  them  a  light  coat  of  manure. 

It  may  be  assumed  that  in  nearly  all  meadows  or  pastures 
clover  should  be  a  constituent.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  se- 
cure a  stand  of  it.  The  clover  will,  in  the  course  of  two  or 


(99) 

three  years,  disappear  from  the  meadow,  leaving  the  grass 
in  possession  of  the  ground.  But  it  has  not  left  without  a 
blessing,  for  it  has  reached  up  into  the  air  with  its  long 
arms  and  drawn  down  great  stores  of  ammonia,  nitrogen, 
carbonic  acid  and  other  valuable  elements  that  grass  requires, 
and  has  pushed  them  down  into  the  soil;  while  on  the 
other  hand  it  has  pumped  up  immense  quantities  of  potash 
and  other  salts  that  are,  in  their  natural  state,  insoluble,  and 
not  available  to  the  grasses,  and  when  it  dies  it  bequeaths 
these  valuable  manures  to  its  successors.  Nor  is  this  all. 
Its  long  roots  permeate  the  ground  to  a  prodigious  depth 
for  so  humble  a  plant,  and  when  the  roots  decay  the  soil  is 
so  honey-combed  that  rains  penetrate  to  the  subsoil  easily 
and  the  grass  roots  follow  to  a  much  greater  depth  than  they 
could  otherwise  attain.  And  while  all  these  services  are 
being  rendered,  the  clover  is  giving  to  its  owner  large  yields 
of  the  best  of  hay. 

Such  a  mixture  should  be  made  in  the  sowings  as  if  one 
species  fail  another  will  take  hold.  Nor  is  it  proper  to  sow 
the  same  quantities  on  the  different  soils  of  the  State.  On 
rich  bottoms  there  will  be  a  necessity  for  using  a  free  hand, 
while  on  the  sandy  uplands  we  must  withold  the  quantity. 
It  may  be  wished  to  pasture  alternate  years,  or  after  the 
lapse  of  a  few  years  altogether.  All  these  reasons  will 
modify  the  quantity  of  seed  to  be  sown.  If  a  very  early 
crop  is  wanted,  such  should  be  selected  as  come  in  early,  or 
if  a  succession  of  crops  be  desired,  it  will  be  an  easy  matter 
to  take  from  our  list  those  that  will  ripen,  or  rather  blossom 
one  after  another  to  the  latest,  thus  enabling  the  farmer  to 
save  all  his  hay  in  good  time.  This  custom  prevails  to 
some  extent  in  Ireland,  to  sow  the  same  quantity  of  seed  to 
an  acre  of  each  kind  as  though  no  other  sorts  were  to  be 
sown,  and  enough  of  each  kind  to  fully  seed  the  land. 

On  a  visit  to  the  Unaka  Mountains,  last  September,  in 
company  with  some  members  of  the  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  we  saw  some  grasses  growing  in  great 


(100) 

luxuriance  on  the  "Balds"  of  that  range  and  on  the  top  of 
the  Roan  Mountain  that  we  had  never  seen  elsewhere,  but 
Prof.  Chickering,  of  Washington  City,  recognized  them  as 
similar  to  those  seen  on  Mt.  Washington  and  in  Canada. 
There  were  poa  annua,  the  spear  grass  of  Maine,  but  com- 
mon on  low  lands  in  the  State;  agrostis  perennans,  or  thin 
grass,  a  plant  peculiar  to  marshy  places;  phleum  alpinum, 
earex  juncea,  a  rush  looking  sedge,  or  rather  a  grass-like 
sedge;  aira  flexuosa,  or  wood  hair  grass,  an  ornamental 
grass  of  the  Northern  latitudes;  danthonia  compressa,  or 
wild  oat  grass,  and  triselum  molle,  or  downy  persoon.  Be- 
sides these  were  many  others  not  determined  by  any  of  the 
botanists  in  the  company.  These  grasses  afford  an  immense 
pasturage  during  the  summer  to  vast  herds  of  cattle  that  are 
driven  by  the  citizens  for  miles  around  to  summer  on  them. 
Gen.  Wilder,  who  owns  a  large  section  of  land  there,  informed 
us  the  grass,  when  enclosed  from  the  stock,  grew  to  the 
height  of  four  feet.  Very  many  varieties  existed,  all  grow- 
ing promiscuously  together.  This  goes  far  to  show  the 
great  difference  of  the  development  of  the  species  in  different 
local  iiies,  for  at  lower  altitudes,  with  the  exception  of  the 
earex  juncea,  these  grasses  grow  quite  low. 

TIMES   AND   MANNEB  OF  SOWING. 

Up  to  1810  the  almost  invariable  rule  among  all  farmers 
was  to  sow  grass  seeds  in  the  spring  of  the  year  on  crops  of 
grain.  Since  that  time  the  practice  has  changed  to  a  great 
extent,  and  while  some  still  adhere  to  spring  sowing,  the 
great  majoritv  of  farmers  sow  in  the  early  fall.  Some  few 
sow  grass  alone,  but  the  most  of  them  sow  with  some  kind 
of  grain.  The  former  is  most  decidedly  the  best,  and  should 
in  every  possible  case  be  practiced.  There  are  many  who 
contend  it  is  much  better  to  sow  alone,  as  the  half  crop  that 
•will  be  harvested  the  next  year  is  fully  equivalent  to  the 
value  of  the  grain  crop,  while  if  the  two  are  sown  together, 


(101) 

-they  both  work  injuriously  on  each  other.  The  stand  ol 
grass  is  injured,  and  the  yield  of  grain  is  diminished.  With 
till  that,  the  general  custom  is  to  sow  on  grain  fields,  and 
wait  until  the  second  year  for  hay.  But  one  thing  is  very 
essential,  let  it  be  sown  with  whatever  it  may,  it  must  be  in 
the  ground  long  enough  before  frosts  to  take  a  deep  root,  or 
much  of  it  will  be  destroyed  by  cold.  Clover  must,  how- 
ever, in  either  case,  be  reserved  until  spring,  as,  when 
young,  it  is  very  sensitive  to  the  effects  of  cold  unless  it  is 
sown  in  August.  It  is  the  custom  of  some  farmers  to  sow 
clover  and  other  grass  seeds  mixed,  in  the  last  plowing  of 
late  corn.  Should  that  course  be  decided  on  the  corn  must 
be  late,  and  plowed  on  the  level  principle,  and  the  clover 
sown  after  the  last  plowing.  Some  crops  have  succeeded  ad- 
mirably put  in  on  this  plan.  But  the  better  plan  will  be  to 
prepare  the  ground  well,  as  already  stated,  and  sow  the  seed, 
if  alone,  from  the  1 5th  of  September  to  the  15th  of  October; 
if  with  a  grain  crop,  as  soon  as  it  can  be  put  in  safely. 
Wheat  is  sown,  as  a  general  practice,  too  late  to  insure  a 
stand  of  grass  that  will  resist  the  winter,  and  it  is  therefore 
better  to  sow  with  rye  or  barley.  Let  the  time  of  sowing 
be  when  it  may,  the  farmer  must  watch  for  a  season,  other- 
wise the  moisture  brought  up  by  plowing  will  be  sufficient 
to  germinate  the  seeds,  but  not  to  make  them  live,  and  even 
if  the  moisture  is  not  enough  to  make  them  germinate,  there 
may  be  enough  to  sprout  them,  and  they  will  still  be  de- 
stroyed. 

If  it  is  the  intention  to  sow  on  a  stubble,  it  is  better,  as 
soon  as  possible  after  harvest,  to  prepare  the  land  and  sow 
in  some  of  the  August  seasons,  and  if  sown  then,  the  clover 
sowing  may  not  be  deferred,  but  sown  with  the  other  seeds, 
as  they  will  have  ample  time  then  to  root  enough  to  with- 
stand the  cold  of  winter.  Timothy  or  Herd's  grass  sown  in 
September  or  October  alone,  will  always  make  a  good  crop 
the  next  summer. 

As  compared  with  spring  sowing,  we  may  safely  prefer 


(102) 

fall.  Both  heat  and  cold  are  injurious  to  young  grass  plants, 
but  of  the  two,  cold  is  much  less  injurious  than  the 
droughts  of  summer.  It  was  the  experience  of  the  writer, 
on  one  occasion,  to  sow  a  large  meadow.  He  began  about 
the  1st  of  September  and  sowed  on  until  rains  stopped  him, 
and  again  in  the  middle  of  October,  and  finished  early  in 
March.  On  the  September  sowing  there  was  a  magnificent 
stand  that  stood  over  the  ground  with  a  solid  turf.  On  the 
October  crop  the  stand  was  fair,  but  much  was  destroyed 
during  the  winter,  and  the  weeds  were  very  troublesome 
the  next  year.  On  the  March  sowing  the  stand  promised 
as  well  as  the  September  crop,  but  the  droughts  of  summer 
destroyed  it  completely. 

But  there  will  always  be  a  difference  of  opinion  on  this 
subject,  and  this  difference  mainly  arises  from  the  difference 
in  the  character  of  soils.  Some  soils  are  better  sown  in  the 
spring,  while  others  secure  better  results  by  fall  sowing — 
and  in  either  case  the  successful  farmer  will  advocate  his 
plan.  But  in  either  case,  as  Gen.  Harding  truthfully  says, 
a  man  will  fail  sometimes,  let  him  sow  as  he  will. 

A  few  words  are  only  necessary  in  regard  to  the  manner 
of  sowing.  In  the  first  place,  the  ground  should  be  thor- 
oughly prepared,  and  a  season  on  hand,  and  if  rain  has 
fallen  since  the  ground  was  put  in  order  and  packed  the 
surface,  run  a  sharp  toothed  harrow  over  it  to  break  up  the 
crust,  then  sow  the  seed  and  roll  it  in.  A  light  harrowing 
will  also  do  on  clayey  soils.  If  its  surface  is  too  rocky, 
stumpy  or  sloping,  to  admit  a  roller,  the  next  best  thing  is 
to  brush  it  with  a  light  full  brush.  If  the  surface  is 
perfectly  smooth  before  the  seeds  are  sown  a  light  brushing 
does  very  well,  but  if  it  is  not,  a  roller  is  preferable,  as  it 
will  not  cover  so  deeply  as  a  brush.  Remember  that  all 
seeds  covered  two  inches  deep  will  not  germinate.  If  sown 
with  grain,  smooth  the  ground  over  with  a  brush  after  the 
grain  is  sown,  and  let  a  hand  follow  immediately  behind  and 
cast  the  seed  into  the  brush.  Never  usq  a  heavy  thin 


(103) 

brush,  but  if  the  limbs  are   full  of  twigs  it  will  not  matter 
as  to  weight.     Then  it  will  not  cover  too  deeply. 

It  may  be  necessary,  and  generally  is,  to  roll  the  land  in 
the  spring,  especially  if  the  meadow  is  a  stiff  clay  soil,  as 
the  frosts  of  winter  will  usually  heave  up  most  of  the  soil, 
thereby  carrying  up  roots  and  earth,  and  unless  it  is  packed 
in  again  the  succeeding  droughts  will  surely  destroy  the 
grass.  All  these  directions  are  not  to  be  taken  as  applying 
to  every  locality,  or  situation/ for  as  difference  of  soil  and 
climate  affects  the  results,  so  only  can  experience,  controlled 
by  reason,  govern  the  complete  details  of  this,  or  any  other 
species  of  planting. 

CUTTING,    CURING    AND   STOEING   HAY. 

There  has  been,  and  still  is  more  differences  of  opinion 
among  hay  farmers,  as  to  the  proper  time  of  cutting,  than 
upon  any  other  point  connected  with  hay.  There  are  dif- 
ferent times  for  the  different  varieties,  but  as  a  rule  there 
should  be  but  one  way.  The  time  of  flowering  is,  unques- 
tionably, the  general  indication  for  the  harvest  to  begin. 
At  ttrs  time  the  saccharine  juices  that  go  to  the  formation 
and  development  of  the  seed,  are  stored  in  the  stalk  and 
leaves,  and  if  saved  then,  they  will  lose  only  their  watery 
constituents,  and  the  grass  will  be  as  palatable  and  succu- 
lent as  when  standing,  and  will  be  eaten  clean  by  all  kinds 
of  stock. 

Still,  some  wait  until  the  pollen  falls  and  the  seeds  are  in 
the  milk,  and  those  practicing  this  plan  contend  that  the  hay 
will  not  scour  the  horses  so  badly.  But  there  is  another 
reason  why  some  defer  the  cutting  to  so  late  a  date,  and  that 
is,  it  will  not  lose  so  much  water,  and  consequently  will  be 
heavier  and  so  bring  more  money. 

A  good  authority  says,  "  I  cut  in  the  blossom  when  the 
hay  is  designed  for  milch  cows,  or  for  fattening  beeves,  be- 
cause in  that  state  it  makes  more  beef,  and  induces  the  cows 
to  give  more  milk ;  but  if  for  work  stock,  horses  or  oxen,  I 


(104) 

cut  six  days  later,  or  thereabouts,  because  it  does  not  scour 
or  loosen  the  animal  so  much  as  when  cut  in  the  blossom." 
In  either  case,  however,  in  an  extensive  crop,  if  the  har- 
vesting begins  at  the  blossoming  period,  it  will  be  six  days 
before  it  is  finished. 

The  gama  grass  and  possibly  the  lucerne  should  be  cut  as 
often  as  it  is  high  enough  to  run  the  mower  through  them, 
as  they  become  very  hard,  stiff  and  woody  if  they  grow 
too  rank,  whereas,  they  are,  if  cut  in  time,  very  sweet  and 
nutritious. 

There  is  also  much  difference  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the 
proper  time  for  cutting  clover.  Some  will  take  a  stalk  and 
tie  a  knot  in  it,  and  if  much  sap  exudes  from  it,  they  will 
leave  it  until  it  will  barely  show  moisture.  Others  will  cut 
when  the  field  is  about  half  in  blossom,  while  still  others 
will  defer  it  until  about  half  the  heads  are  brown  and  the 
seed  are  in  a  milky  state.  But  the  mass  of  testimony  is  in 
favor  of  cutting  clover  when  a  few  brown  heads  show  them- 
selves over  the  field. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  just  before  the  formation  of 
the  seed  there  is  a  larger  per  cent,  of  sugar,  starch  and  glu- 
ten in  the  stalk  than  at  any  other  time.  When  the  grass 
first  springs  up  it  is  filled  almost  entirely  with  water,  as  any 
one  can  satisfy  himself  by  chewing  a  stem  in  its  different  pe- 
riods of  growth.  As  the  plant  grows  and  matures,  the  wa- 
ter gradually  becomes  impregnated  with  these  substances, 
and  at  its  blossoming  period  these  elements  exist  in  their 
greatest  quantity — in  fact  nature  is  now  storing  up  material 
from  which  to  form  the  seed,  and  these  stores  are  held  ready 
in  the  stalk,  to  effect  that  purpose.  These  elements  are  all 
soluble  in  water,  and  consequently,  are  easily  dissolved  by 
the  juices  of  the  stomach.  But  if  these  principles  are  al- 
lowed to  go  to  seed,  they  leave  the  stalk,  and  at  once  the 
plant  starts  on  its  downward  course,  becoming  more  and 
more  woody,  until  finally  decay  sets  in,  and  the  hay  is  then 


(105 

worthless ;  ^because    the   woody   fibre    is    insoluble   in  the 
stomach. 

Prof.    Kirkland    draws   the  following  conclusions    from 
many  careful  observations  as  regards  timothy : 

1.  "  That  timothy  is  a  perennial  plant,  which  renews  it- 
self by  an  annual  formation  of  bulbs,"   or  perhaps,  more 
cerrectly   speaking,    tubers,    in    which    the    vitality  oi   the 
plant  is  concentrated  during  the  winter.     These    form    in 
whatever  locality  the  plant  is  selected,  without  reference  to 
dryness  or   moisture.     From  these  proceed  the  stalks  that 
support  the    heads  and  leaves,  and  from  the  same  source 
spread  out  the  numerous  fibres  forming  the  true  roots. 

2.  "  To  insure  a  perfect  development  of  tubers  a  certain 
amount  of  nutrition  must  be  assimilated  in  the  leaves  and 
returned  to  the  base  of  the  plant,  through  the  stalk. 

3.  "  As  soon  as  the  process  of  nutrition  is  completed,  it 
becomes  manifest  by  a  state  of  desiccation  or  dryness,  al- 
ways commencing  at  a  point  directly  above  either  the  first 
or  second  joint  of  the  stem  near  the  crown  of  the  tubers. 
From  this  point  the  desiccation  gradually    progresses  up- 
ward, and  the  last  portion  of  the  stalk  yielding  its  fresh- 
ness  is   that  adjoining  the  head.     Coincident  with  the  be- 
ginning of  this  process,  is  the  full  development  of  the  seeds, 
and  with  its  progress  they  mature.     Its  earliest  appearance 
is  evidence  that  both  the  tubers  and  seeds  have  received 
their  requisite  supplies  of  nutrition,  and  that  neither  the 
stalk  nor  the   leaves  are  longer  necessary  to  aid  them  in 
completing  their  maturity.     A  similar  process  occurs  in  the 
onion  just  above  the   bulb,  indicating  a  maturity  of  that 
organ. 

4.  "  If  the  stalk  be  cut  from  the  tubers  before  this  evi- 
dence of  maturity  appears,  the  necessary  supplies  of  nutri- 
tion will  be  arrested,  their  proper  growth  will  cease,  and  an 
effort  will  be  made  to  repair  the  injury  by  sending  out  small 
lateral  tubers,  from  which  weak,  unhealthy  stalks  will  pro- 
ceed at  the  expense  of  the  original  tubers.     All  will  ulti- 


(106) 

mately  perish,  either  by  the  drought  of  autumn  or  the  cold 
of  winter. 

5.  "  The  tubers,  together  with  one  or  two  of  the  lower 
joints  of  the  stalk,  remain  fresh  and  green  during  the  win- 
ter, if  left  to  take  their  natural  course;  but  if,  by  any  means, 
this  green  portion  be  severed,  at  any  season  of  the  year,  the 
result  is  the  death  of  the  plant." 

From  these  five  propositions  the  following  conclusions 
are  drawn  : 

1.  "The  timothy  grass  cannot,  under  any  circumstances, 
be  adapted  for  pasture,  as  the  close  nipping  of  horses  and 
sheep  is  fatal  to  the  tubers,  which  are  also  extensively  de- 
stroyed by  swine,  if  allowed  to  run  in  the  pasture. 

2.  "That  the  proper  time  for  mowing  timothy  is  at  any 
time  after  the  process  of  desiccation  has  commenced  on  the 
stalk,  as  noted  in  the  third  proposition.     It  is  not  very  es- 
sential whether  it  is  performed  a  week  earlier  or  later,  pro- 
vided it  be  postponed  till  that  evidence  of  maturity  has  be- 
come manifested. 

3.  "All  attempts  at  close  shaving  the  sward  should  be 
avoided  while  using  the  scythe,  and  in  gauging  the  mowing 
machines  care  should  be  taken  to  run  them  so  high  that 
they  will  not  cut  the  timothy  below  the  second  joint  above 
the  tuber/' 

CUTTING. 

Perhaps  no  invention-  of  agricultural  machinery — and 
their  name  is  legion — has  afforded  more  positive  benefit  to 
the  farmer  than  the  introduction  of  the  mowing  machine. 
Before  its  invention  no  farmer  could,  with  certainty  and  suc- 
cess, secure  a  large  amount  of  hay.  It  ripens  in  the  hottest 
of  the  weather,  and  at  a  time  when  the  labor  of  the  coun- 
try is,  as  a  general  thing,  all  actively  employed ;  so  if  a  man 
did  get  enough,  it  was  at  an  exorbitant  price,  fearfully  re- 
ducing his  profits.  Then  the  grass,  if  of  one  crop,  all  needs 


(107) 

cutting  at  once,  so  it  would  be  impracticable  to  save  it  all 
in  prime  condition. 

Another  improvement  is  the  horse  rake.  The  first  one 
used  was  the  horizontal  rake,  that  running  under  the  swath 
heaped  it  up  until  the  teeth  were  full,  when  by  a  slight  lift 
of  the  handles  it  turned  over,  leaving  the  hay  in  windrows. 
This  it  did  very  well,  and  still  does  well,  but  another  has 
come  into  very  general  use  that  is  a  little  more  extensive, 
but  gives  the  driver  a  seat  on  it,  and  certainly  gathers  up 
the  grass  cleaner  than  the  other. 

The  Tedder  is  another  machine  that  is  used  extensively 
in  the  Northern  States,  where  the  weather  is  more  uncertain 
than  here,  and  the  hay  dries  much  slower  than  beneath  the 
Southern  sun.  It  is  seldom  used  in  Tennessee,  and  is  but 
seldom  necessary. 

CUEING. 

This  is  a  point  upon  which  there  is  as  much  difference  of 
opinion,  perhaps,  as  on  any  other  point  connected  with  har- 
vesting. Some  prefer  to  let  it  get  dry  on  the  ground,  just 
as  it  is  left  by  the  mower,  while  others  cure  it  in  the  wind- 
row, and  still  others  cure  it  in  the  cock.  This  refers  to  the 
true  grasses,  for  almost  every  one  who  makes  hay  of  the 
clovers  pursues  one  plan,  which  will  be  spoken  of  directly. 
This  difference  in  the  plans  of  curing  results  chiefly  from 
the  great  difference  there  is  in  the  curing  quality  of  the  va- 
rious grasses.  Timothy  cures  much  easier  and  quicker  than 
Herd's  grass,  while  the  coarser  grasses,  such  as  Gama,  Egyp- 
tian and  others,  require  still  longer  time  than  Herd's  grass. 
Formerly,  it  was  the  universal  custom  to  allow  it  to  lie  until 
it  was  almost  dry  before  raking,  but  that  custom  is  fast  giv- 
ing place  to  a  more  rapid  method.  Now,  with  many  of  our 
best  farmers,  it  is  deemed  sufficient  to  allow  it  to  remain  on 
the  ground  after  cutting  a  time  only  long  enough  for  it  to 
become  wilted,  and  then  with  a  rake  it  is  put  into  windrows. 
Hands  follow  immediately  with  hand  rakes,  or  pitchforks, 


(108) 

and  throw  it  up  into  cocks.  Some  do  not  even  cock  it,  but, 
if  the  weather  is  favorable,  allow  it  to  remain  in  the  wind- 
row for  a  day,  or  the  second  evening  after  cutting,  and  then 
gather  it  up  in  wagons  and  carry  to  the  rick  or  barn.  But 
probably  the  surest  plan  is  to  put  it  into  cocks  the  evening 
after  it  is  cut  in  the  morning,  and  allow  it  to  remain  in  this 
state  for  two  or  three  days,  according  as  the  promise  of  good 
weather  may  be,  then  throw  open  the  cocks  and  spread  the 
hay  before  hauling  up.  It  can  be  easily  determined  at  this 
stage  whether  or  not  it  is  sufficiently  cured.  If,  when  ex- 
amined, the  cocks  have  become  heated,  by  opening  them 
out  the  heat  that  has  been  generated  will  readily  become 
dissipated,  and  there  is  not  much  likelihood  of  its  becoming 
again  heated.  One  fact  is  well  ascertained,  and  that  is,  the 
sooner  it  goes  into  the  rick  or  barn  after  cutting,  without 
spoiling,  the  better  will  be  the  hay,  and  the  more  will  it  be 
relished  by  stock. 

Some  farmers  adopt  the  plan  of  arresting  its  disposition 
to  heat  by  sprinkling  salt  upon  it  as  it  is  stored.  This  is  a 
good  plan,  and  increases  the  fondness  of  stock  for  it  if  too 
much  is  not  applied.  One  hand  should  apply  the  salt  as  it 
is  thrown  in,  at  the  rate  of  about  two  quarts  to  the  two- 
horse  wagon  load. 

Should  the  farmer  not  wish  to  sell  his  hay,  and  is  scarce 
of  a  supply,  he  can  increase  the  quantity  of  provender  by 
mixing,  as  it  is  put  into  the  heap,  a  third  or  even  a  half  of 
straw,  or  inferior  hay,  that  has  been  left  over,  and  in  the 
curing  process  which  takes  place  the  juices  of  the  new  hay 
will  penetrate  and  sweeten  the  straw,  greatly  improving  its 
character,  without  deteriorating  its  own  quality. 

A  most  excellent  farmer  says  he  waits  until  the  dew  is  off, 
then  starts  his  mower,  and  in  the  evening  about  four  o'clock 
starts  the  rake,  and  has  hands  following  with  forks,  and  by 
the  time  the  dew  is  falling  has  it  all  in  cocks.  The  next 
morning,  after  the  dews  dry  up,  he  opens  and  throws  out 


(109) 

the  cocks,  and  immediately  after  dinner  begins  to  haul  to 
the  barn. 

When  it  is  intended  to  let  it  remain  in  the  cocks  for  sev- 
eral days,  great  care  should  be  exercised  in  properly  form- 
ing the  hay  into  cocks  in  view  of  wet  weather.  Cocks  in- 
differently made  would  be,  if  possible,  worse  than  if  spread 
out,  for  the  water  would  penetrate  them  all  through,  and 
the  hay  would  in  a  short  time  mould  or  rot.  In  the  first 
place,  they  should  be  made  large,  not  less  than  one  hundred 
pounds  in  each  at  any  time.  Then  make  them  as  sharp  at 
the  top  as  possible,  so  as  to  be  stout  and  secure  against 
winds.  Make  the  sides  nearly  perpendicular,  and  lastly, 
comb  them  down  well  from  top  to  bottom  with  a  pitchfork, 
so  as  to  throw  as  many  stems  as  possible  parallel  with  one 
another,  thatching  it  well  in  order  the  better  to  shed  the 
water.  But  even  with  the  most  careful  management  all  the 
outer  layer  and  some  of  the  interior  will  be  destroyed  by 
long:  continued  rains. 

Cut  clover  when  the  dew  is  off,  let  it  wilt,  and  rake  it 
into  windrows.  Allow  it  to  remain  in  this  state  until  the 
dew  is  off  the  next  morning,  and  begin  at  once  to  haul  and 
place  in  the  barn,  sprinkling  salt  in  small  quantities  over 
every  layer.  In  this  way  the  entire  crop  will  be  exposed 
only  about  twenty-four  hours,  which  is  amply  sufficient  for 
it.  It  will  heat  and  go  through  a  heavy  sweat,  but  this  will 
not  injure  it,  and  it  will  look  as  fresh  and  almost  as  green 
when  cured  as  when  standing.  The  salt  is  essential  to  its 
proper  preservation. 

Should  the  farmer  have  a  quantity  of  good  clean  wheat, 
©at,  or  rye  straw,  it  is  a  very  good  practice,  and  a  safe  one, 
to  throw  a  layer  of  it  between  each  load  of  clover.  It  will 
permit  the  passage  of  the  air,  and  the  aroma  of  the  clover 
will  penetrate  the  straw,  each  in  this  manner  benefitting  the 
other,  so  that  both  will  be  eaten  with  a  relish  by  cattle. 


(110) 

TROUBLESOME   PLANTS   TO   MEADOWS. 

There  are  several  plants  exceedingly  troublesome  to  the 
meadows  in  Tennessee.  Among  them  is  the  white  top  (Eri- 
geron  Philadephicum)  or  fleabane.  This  is  a  perennial,  and 
sometimes  infests  meadows  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render 
them  worthless.  Meadows  troubled  with  them  should  be 
mown  several  years  in  succession  when  the  white  top  begins 
to  blossom.  Broom  grass  (Andropogon  scoparius)  is  also 
very  pestiferous,  destroying  meadows  after  four  or  five  years 
unless  closely  watched,  and  the  broom  grass  cut  up  by  the 
roots  every  spring.  The  trumpet  creeper  (Bignonia  radi- 
cans)  infests  meadows  in  rich  bottom  lands,  and  when  cut 
off  by  the  mower  forms  hard  knots,  which  will  arrest  the 
action  of  the  sickle.  This  vine  should  be  dug  up  "  root  and 
branch."  White  clover  and  blue  grass  are  both  great  ene- 
mies to  the  meadow,  and  when  they  prevail  to  any  extent  it 
is  best  to  use  the  meadow  as  a  pasture,  and  sow  another 
meadow  somewhere  else. 

A  top  dressing  of  superphosphate  or  of  stable  manure 
every  fall,  after  a  crop  of  hay  is  taken  off,  will  also  do  much 
to  keep  down  noxious  weeds  and  grasses.  The  farmer  should 
always  bear  in  mind  that  meadows  require  to  be  regularly 
fed.  It  is  too  much  to  expect  that  they  will  grow  heavy 
crops  of  hay  year  after  year  without  exhausting  the  ele- 
ments in  the  soil  which  go  to  make  hay.  These  elements 
must  be  supplied.  Restitution  must  be  made  if  the  farmer 
expects  to  have  luxuriant  and  profitable  meadows.  The 
best  rule  to  adopt  is,  never  to  take  off  a  crop  of  hay  with- 
out making  a  liberal  application  of  manure. 

A   WORD   ABOUT   MANURES. 

The  people  of  the  South  have  much  to  learn  in  regard  to 
the  successful  management  of  meadow  lands.  Many  farm- 
ers seem  to  think  it  possible  to  take  large  crops  of  hay  from 
the  same  land  year  after  year  without  adding  any  fertilizers. 


(Ill) 

This  is  a  grand  mistake.  One  had  just  as  well  expect  to 
check  on  his  bank  account  day  after  day  without  making 
additions  to  his  deposits,  as  to  check  on  the  soil  for  large 
crops  without  properly  feeding  the  land  which  grows  them. 

The  question  we  ought  to  consider  is,  how  to  manage 
meadows  after  they  are  properly  sown  and  a  stand  of  grass 
secured,  so  as  not  only  to  keep  up  their  fertility,  but  to  in- 
crease their  power  of  production. 

This  question  is  so  well  understood  by  English  farmers 
that  they  seldom  take  a  crop  of  hay  from  a  piece  of  land 
without  making  a  large  and  expensive  application  of  ma- 
nure. If  the  hay  is  cut  several  times  a  year  it  is  a  heavy 
draft  upon  the  soil,  and  some  restitution  must  be  made  to 
the  soil  or  it  will  soon  cease  to  meet  the  expectations  of  the 
husbandman.  The  English  farmer,  enlightened  by  experi- 
ence, in  order  to  strengthen  the  land  and  stimulate  the  grass 
roots  to  renewed  exertion,  will  draw  out  upon  the  meadow 
various  kinds  of  manure  to  supply  whatever  wants  he  may 
deem  the  land  requires. 

There  are  not  many  kinds  of  manure  in  reach  of  a  Ten- 
nessee farmer,  unless  he  takes  the  forethought  to  provide 
them.  But  if  he  does  take  this  in  mind,  and  watches  closely 
for  everything  that  will  contribute  to  this  end,  he  will  be 
surprised  himself  at  the  result  in  a  very  short  time.  Be- 
sides those  elements  that  are  at  the  command  of  every  care- 
ful farmer,  there  is  another  class  of  manures  called  "artifi- 
cial/7 and  these  can  be  procured  at  any  place  by  a  sufficient 
outlay.  But  they  are  costly,  and  it  requires  a  scientific  ac- 
quaintance with  their  properties  before  the  ordinary  farmer 
will  have  the  courage  to  invest  in  them.  In  other  words, 
he  must  be  able  to  see  why  and  how  his  money  will  be  re- 
turned with  interest. 

In  order  to  properly  understand  the  requirements  of  plants, 
it  is  essential  the  action  of  the  different  manures  should  be 
known,  together  with  an  approximate  knowledge  of  the  con- 
stituents of  the  soil.  Soils  are  the  result  of  the  degrada-/ 


(112) 

tion,  or  breaking  down,  from  various  causes,  of  rocks. 
Through  the  great  convulsions  of  nature  this  triturated  dust 
is  mingled  together,  so  that  every  species  of  rock  formation 
is  represented  in  every  handful  of  clay.  Were  this  not  the 
case,  we  would  have  over  limestone  rocks  a  great  mass  of 
unproductive  pulverized  carbonate  of  lime ;  or  over  granite, 
we  would  see  nothing  but  the  sparkling  atoms  of  quartz  and 
mica,  and  over  each  stratum  there  would  be  the  constituents 
of  that  rock,  and  hence  no  vegetation  would  charm  the  eye 
or  delight  the  heart,  to  say  nothing  of  our  digestive  wants. 
Through  the  agency  of  perfectly  natural  causes  (water  prin- 
cipally), the  soils  have  been  intimately  mingled.  By  this 
wise  provision  vegetation  in  every  spot  in  the  world  finds 
some  elements  necessary  to  its  existence.  But  it  sometimes 
happens  that  there  is  a  deficiency  of  some  of  the  elements, 
and  again  that  there  is  a  surplus.  In  the  great  alluvial 
swamps  decayed  vegetable  matters  exist  to  such  an  exte.nt 
that  some  cereals  do  not  thrive  well,  and  on  the  other  hand, 
on  the  steep  mountain  sides,  by  the  action  of  washing  rains, 
this  matter  has  been  carried  off.  Again,  in  many  sections, 
the  fertile  matters  have  been  exhausted,  or  so  nearly  so,  that 
the  products  of  the  soil  cease  to  be  remunerative.  It  is  the 
province  of  scientific  agriculture  to  point  out  these  deficien- 
cies and  direct  the  remedy. 

The  soil  originally  consisted  simply  of  the  debris  of  the 
rocks  or  clay.  It  is  composed  of  the  elements  of  the  rocks, 
together  with  an  intimate  admixture  of  some  mim ral  sub- 
stances. In  limited  patches  the  soil  partakes  of  the  charac- 
ter of  the  formations  underneath.  Thus,  in  iron  districts, 
the  soil  in  places  shows  the  presence,  in  considerable  quan- 
tities, of  iron,  making  the  earth  red  or  brown.  In  sand- 
stone countries  the  clay  has  a*  quantity  of  sand  overlying  it, 
and  among  the  primitive  rocks  scales  of  mica  glisten  on 
every  side.  The  weight  of  a  cubic  foot  of  thoroughly  dried 
soil  averages  as  follows: 


(113) 

Pounda. 

Siliceous  sand 111.3 

Calcareous  sand , 113.6 

Sandy  clay 97.8 

Loamy  clay , 88.8 

Stiff  clay 80.3 

Slaty  marl 112. 

Fertile  mould 68.7 

Common  arable  soil 84.5 

Chemists,  from  the  earliest  times,  have  been  struck  with 
the  great  proportion  of  insoluble  to  soluble  substances  in 
the  soil.  These  insoluble  substances  will  resist  the  action 
of  acid  and  alkali  in  any  quantities  short  of  destroying 
vegetation.  Analysts  have  striven  by  the  aid  of  weak 
solutions  of  acids  and  alkalies  to  effect  this,  and  though  the 
science  is  by  no  means  perfect,  they  have  succeeded  in  ren- 
dering much  inert  matter,  that  has  hitherto  cumbered  the 
land,  into  plant  food.  In  an  average  of  many  kinds  of  soil 
the  proportions  are,  of 

Insoluble  matters 89.305 

Soluble  matters 2.047 

Phosphate,  carbon,  and  sulphate  lime 3.160 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  of  the  great  mass  of  soil,  ranging 
from  a  few  inches  to  many  hundred  feet  thick,  only  a  very 
small  per  cent,  is  available  to  vegetation.  Further,  chemical 
analysis  has  also  developed  the  fact  that  all  animal  tissues 
are  composed  of  these  identical  elements  of  the  soil.  Truly 
and  literally  we  are  made  of  dust.  But  the  animal  king- 
dom does  not  derive  its  sustenance  directly  from  the  soil — 
that  would  be  impossible.  Our  digestive  organs  are  not 
constructed  for  that  purpose,  and  could  not  assimilate  such 
food,  though  in  the  great  famine  of  Germany,  in  the  18th 
century,  the  starving  millions  did  essay  it  only  to  die  in  tor- 
ture. Nature  has  provided  an  intermediate  agent,  vegeta- 
tion, whose  organs  are  nicely  adapted  to  this  purpose.  They 
send  down  into  the  soil  their  sensitive  feelers,  and  pick  up 
such  stray  bits  of  food  as  men  or  beasts  require.  They 
store  it  away  in  their  granaries  until  it  is  called  for,  and 
8 


(114) 

these  kind  friends  are  thus  the  purveyors  to  animal  life. 
Not  only  is  man  thus  directly  fed  by  these  natural  agents, 
but,  to  keep  up  a  constant  unceasing  supply,  a  large  propor- 
tion is  sent  back  to  the  soil  in  a  form  to  invigorate  man's 
food.  This  refunded  capital  is  variously  called  humin, 
ulmin,  geine.  Ulmin,  or  ulmic  acid,  is  the  first  formed ; 
humin  is  formed  from  ulmin  by  the  absorption  of  oxygen ; 
geine,  or  geic  acid,  from  humin  by  the  further  absorption  of 
oxygen. 

We  will  describe  all  these  changes,  however,  under  the 
general  term  of  geine.  Under  some  form  geine  is  essential 
to  agriculture.  It  is  the  result  of  decaying  vegetable 
matter,  or,  in  other  words,  it  is  the  active  principle  of  mould, 
and  is  the  direct  result  of  putrefaction.  It  is  carbon,  oxy- 
gen, and  hydrogen.  It  has  a  powerful  affinity  for  nitrogen, 
one  of  the  constituents  of  the  atmosphere,  and  whenever  it 
comes  in  contact,  the  hydrogen  of  the  geine  unites  with  the 
nitrogen  of  the  air,  and  ammonia  is  the  result.  It  also  ab- 
sorbs water  freely,  and  this  is  why  bottom  lands,  full  of 
geine,  fail  to  suffer  from  drought.  The  geine  attracts 
moisture  from  the  air,  and  keeps  the  plant  alive.  These 
salts,  humin,  ulmin,  and  geine,  were  formerly  called  extract 
of  mould.  They  are,  for  the  most  part,  soluble  in  water. 
For  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  will  embrace  all  these  salts,  as 
well  as  crenic  and  apocrenic  acids,  convertible  with  the 
salts,  under  the  general  term  mould.  So  far  as  nourishment 
is  derived  from  the  soil,  this  substance  is  the  food  of  plants. 
It  has  been  deposited  over  the  clay  by  the  general  decay  of 
vegetation,  through  many  ages,  and  according  to  the  amount 
deposited  depends  the  value  of  the  land. 

Why  it  is  that  plants  live  and  grow,  or  how  they  grow  is 
a  mystery  no  philosopher  has  ever  been  able  to  explain. 
God  gives  the  vital  principle,  and  so  long  as  that  continues 
the  plant  is  able  to  resist  an  opposing  power,  which  is 
chemistry.  When  life  ceases,  chemistry  then  asserts  its 
power,  and  decay  begins,  which  leads  to  fermentation,  and 


(115) 

-after  this  process  is  ended,  putrefaction  takes  charge,  which 
soon  resolves  the  body  into  its  original  elements;  and  they 
are  then  ready  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  another  living 
body.  Thus  nothing  is  ever  lost.  It  may  change  its  loca- 
tion ;  the  plant  that  grew  at  the  head  of  a  mountain  torrent 
may  ultimately  enter  into  the  composition  of  a  sugar  cane 
in  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi,  but  it  is  still  in  the  universe, 
silently  performing  its  duties. 

Many  things  contain  salts  available  to  the  agriculturist. 
Lime,  ashes,  plaster  of  Paris  (sulphate  of  lime),  saltpetre, 
common  salt,  phosphate  of  lime,  bone  dust,  coal  ashes,  hair, 
hoofs,  horns,  copperas,  and  many  others.  Some  of  these 
substances  have  to  be  used  sparingly,  such  as  salt  or  cop- 
peras, but  all  are  beneficial  to  growing  plants. 

These  substances  act  chemically,  and  free  a  great  many 
inert  matters.  Growing  plants  absorb  vast  quantities  of 
carbonic  acid  through  their  leaves,  and  carrying  it  down, 
throw  it  into  the  soil,  where  it  acts  upon  silica  and  allumina, 
freeing  salts  for  their  growth. 

Wood  and  coal  ashes  are  very  rich  in  the  salts,  and  furnish 
one  of  the  cheapest  and  best  additions  that  can  be  made  to 
land.  Coal  ashes  are  not  so  rich  in  the  various  salts,  but 
contain  enough  to  merit  a  better  fate  than  is  generally 
awarded  them. 

The  composition  of  wood  ashes  is  a  follows: 

Two  hundred  parts  of  wood  ashes  contain 

Per  cent. 

Carbonic  acid 58.53 

Sulphuric  acid 6.43 

Phosphoric  acid 3.40 

Muriatic  acid 1.82 

Lime 50.35 

Magnesia  4.55 

Potash  and  soda 67.96 

Silex  5.22 

Oxide  iron 50 

Oxide  manganese 1.10 

Water , 14 

200.00 


(116) 

Of  this  27.14  parts  are  soluble  at  once  in  water,  and 
leached  ashes  are  deprived  of  it,  and  the  balance,  172.86 
parts,  are  insoluble,  but  act  slowly  on  the  soil,  freeing 
various  substances  in  the  process  of  time.  Coal  ashes  con- 
tain these  same  ingredients  in  a  much  less  degree,  or  if  soil 
is  entirely  deprived  of  its  vegetable  mould,  it  is  identical 
almost  with  coal  ashes.  Each  hundred  pounds  contain  eight 
that  are  at  once  valuable  to  the  farmer,  and  another  portion 
has  a  prospective  value.  Coal  ashes  are  worth  a  good  deal 
simply  as  a  mechanical  loosener  of  the  soil.  Mixed  with  it, 
in  even  small  proportions,  it  renders  the  soil  friable  and 
easily  worked. 

Having  now  explained  that  there  is  a  principle  called 
mould  or  geine,  and  that  this  principle  is  necessary  to  fer- 
tility, and,  also,  that  this  principle,  to  be  in  an  available 
form,  must  be  reacted  on  by  salts,  it  remains  to  inquire  the 
best  form  in  which  these  elements  are  united.  Practically, 
every  farmer  in  the  country  will  at  once  answer  stable 
manure.  And,  as  is  generally  the  case,  practice  has  long 
found  out  what  science  seeks  a  reason  for.  A  careful 
analysis  of  cow  manure,  which  is  generally  accepted  as  the 
unit  of  value,  shows  that  cow  dung  consists,  not  to  go  into 
an  ultimate  analysis,  of 

Per  cent. 

Water  83.60 

Salts 0.95 

Geine 15.45 

This  seems  to  be  a  small  proportion  of  valuable  matter, 
only  one-sixth  of  the  whole  amount.  But  let  us  see  what  a 
careful  farmer  can  do  by  saving  for  a  year.  In  an  experi- 
ment, conducted  carefully  and  published  a  few  years  ago, 
an  average  cow  was  selected,  and  everything  she  ate  or 
drank  was  carefully  weighed,  as  well  as  all  the  voidings  of 
dung.  This  experiment  lasted  seven  days,  and  from  a  cal- 
culation, this  cow  would  have  made  in  one  year  4,800  pounds 


(117) 

geine,  71  pounds  bone  dust,  37  pounds  plaster,  37  pounds 
lime,  25  pounds  common  salt,  15  pounds  sulphate  potash. 
This,  carefully  saved,  furnishes  salts  of  lime  equal  to  four 
and  a  half  bushels  of  corn  daily,  or  1,662}  annually.  No* 
only  is  this  amount  saved,  but  in  addition  the  nitrogen  that 
is  in  it,  by  chemical  affinity,  creates  a  large  amount  of  am- 
monia, that  is  fixed  and  amounts  in  a  year  to  677  pounds. 
To  the  nitrogen  is  due  much  of  the  excellence  of  this  stim- 
ulant, and  without  the  animal  matter,  or  nitrogen,  it  would 
be  nothing  more  than  decayed  wood  and  salts.  It  is  a  com- 
mon idea  that  the  activity  of  stable  manure  is  due  entirely 
to  the  animal  excrements.  It  is  due  rather  to  the  happy 
combination  of  am-monia,  geine,  and  salts,  such  as  no  chemist 
can  manufacture  from  the  food  of  the  cow.  Were  this  pos- 
sible, a  pile  of  rotted  hay  and  turnips  would  supply  all 
these  united  elements.  But  effort  has  demonstrated  that  it 
cannot  be  done.  Nor  does  the  food  of  a  cow  affect,  but 
little,  the  elements  of  dung.  A  cow  fed  on  rich  nitrogenous 
food,  such  as  corn  or  oats,  will  give  some  more  nitrogen  in 
the  dung,  and  form  more  ammonia,  but  the  salts  and  geine 
will  be  but  little  changed. 

Horse  dung  is  much  richer  in  manures  than  cow  dung$ 
but  horse  dung  very  quickly  ferments,  and,  by  fermenta- 
tion, it  will  lose  one-third  its  value  in  one  month.  It  is, 
therefore,  very  necessary  to  remove,  as  often  as  possible,  the 
horse  dung  from  the  stable,  and  place  it  in  the  compost 
heap  with  the  cattle  dung,  or  with  alternate  layers  of  soil, 
and  sprinkled  with  lime  or  plaster.  These  salts  will  catch 
and  fix  the  escaping  ammonia,  and  prevent  much  loss. 
After  horse  dung  has  fermented,  if  alone,  it  is  of  far  less 
value  than  cow  dung,  but  before  it  ferments  it  is  much  more 
valuable.  When  that  process  is  completed  fully,  nine-tenths 
of  iis  value,  according  to  our  best  writers,  is  lost.  These 
are  statements  based,  not  only  on  experience  and  observa- 
tion, but  also  on  absolute  chemical  analyses.  How  much  it 
stands  the  farmer  in  hand  then  to  observe  a  systematic  sav- 


(118) 

ing  and  storing  of  these  treasures  of  agricultural  wealth  I 
A  compost  heap,  under  a  good  shelter,  is  to  the  uninformed 
a  heap  reeking  with  filth,  repulsive  to  the  eye  and  offensive 
to  the  olfactories.  But  to  the  scientific  farmer  it  is  a  bed  of 
power.  In  it  are  contained  the  yellow  grain  and  the  lus- 
cious fruit ;  over  it  hovers  the  spirit  of  the  rose  and  the 
lily,  and  sweet  odors  are  stored  in  it,  to  make  the  fragrant 
pink  and  the  delicious  heliotrope.  Let  every  consideration? 
of  economy  and  enterprise  stimulate  the  farmer,  then,  to 
aave  every  waste  of  the  farm.  The  Chinese  are  so  sensible 
of  the  importance  of  manure,  in  a  country  teeming  with  an 
over  population,  where  the  soil  is  tasked  to  its  utmost  to 
carry  its  population,  they  even  save  the  parings  of  their 
inger  and  toe  nails  to  add  to  its  fertility.  The  farmer  has 
a  wonderful  bank  to  draw  upon  for  this  purpose.  Cattle 
and  horse  dung  and  urine,  the  scrapings  of  the  barn- yard 
after  every  rain,  straw,  stalks,  leaves  of  the  forest,  drifts  on 
the  banks  of  streams,  all  contribute  their  share  in  the 
general  enrichm.ent  of  the  farm.  And  any  one  would  be 
surprised  at  the  amount  accumulated  for  the  spring  scattering, 
if  systematically  carried  on  for  one  year.  It  requires  but  a 
little  time,  too,  if  a  regular  time  be  given  to  it.  Regularity 
and  system  are  the  great  watchwords  of  improvement. 

Millions  of  dollars  are  annually  wasted  by  burning  straw 
and  stalks,  which,  if  carried  to  the  stables  and  barn  yard, 
would  act  as  solvents,  to  catch  this  daily  waste.  If  the 
ashes,  resulting  from  the  burning  straw,  were  as  good 
manure  as  the  straw  itself,  then  burning  would  not  be  waste- 
ful. But  a  large  amount  of  valuable  matter  goes  into  the 
air  as  gases,  besides  much  is  blown  away  by  the  winds.  A 
Mr.  Lawes,  of  England,  determined  this  matter  of  burning 
manure  in  an  experiment  that  was  both  fair  and  positive. 
He  took  28  tons  of  yard  manure,  and  divided  it;  14  tons 
were  reduced  by  fire,  leaving  32  cwt.  of  ashes.  He  then 
scattered  the  14  tons  of  manure  left  on  one  acre  of  land, 
and  the  32  cwt.  of  ashes  on  another  acre  of  land,  and  left 


(119) 

another  acre  without  any  application.  He  cultivated  them 
all  well  and  alike. 

The  manured  acre  made  22  bushels  of  wheat,  the  ashed 
acre,  made  16  bushels,  and  the  unmanured  acre  made  16 
bushels.  This  proves  that  the  more  nitrogen  manure  con- 
tains in  combination  with  the  salts,  the  more  value  it  has. 

Night  soil,  or  the  excrement  of  human  beings,  is,  next  to 
chicken  manure,  the  richest  and  most  stimulating  of  all 
manures.  Then  comes  that  of  fattening  hogs  and  sheep, 
horses  and  cows.  But,  as  before  stated,  the  disposition  to 
waste  is  so  great,  that  the  "cold"  manures,  as  that  of  cows, 
sheep,  and  hogs,  are  more  available  to  the  farmer  than  the 
more  active  ones  of  man  and  horse. 

Two  much  care  cannot  be  exercised  in  preserving  the  ex- 
crements of  men  and  animals.  Every  pound  of  ammonia 
that  is  lost  or  evaporates  represents  the  amount  required  for 
a  bushel  of  corn  ;  and  every  pound  of  the  urine  of  a  horse 
or  man  will  furnish  sufficient  ammonia  for  a  pound  of 
wheat;  and  two  and  a  half  pounds  of  the  urine  .of  man  will 
furnish  the  phosphoric  acid  and  more  than  half  of  the 
potash  required  for  a  pound  of  wheat. 

It  then  remains  for  us  to  make  the  application  of  these 
remarks,  and  every  right-thinking  man  will  see  at  once  the 
importance  of  gathering  up  and  saving.  It  is  money  in  his 
pocket.  One  man  will  burn  a  few  bushels  of  soil,  and  set- 
ting it  near  the  privy,  will  throw,  every  day,  a  few  hands- 
ful  on  the  pile  of  excrement,  and  in  a  few  months  he  will 
fill  his  barrels  with  the  most  valuable  poudrette,  that  an- 
other man  will  go  to  the  city  and  pay  a  large  price  for. 
One  man  will  set  a  few  barrels  of  ashes  in  a  convenient 
place,  and  cause  the  house-cleaner  to  empty  the  urine  of  the 
night  into  them.  In  a  few  mouths  he  will  have  his  ashes 
thoroughly  saturated  with  salts  and  organic  matter  the  most 
valuable. 

In  England,  farmers  do  not  consider  it  any  hardship  to 
dig  cisterns,  in  which  to  save  all  the  liquid  excrements  of 


(120) 

the  cows  and  horses,  and  with  a  water  cart,  spread  it  over 
their  pastures  and  meadows. 

Many  object  to  the  use  of  human  excrement,  on  account 
of  its  offensiveness.  This  can  be  easily  prevented,  and  at 
the  same  time  by  an  agent  that  is  a  valuable  addition  to  the 
manure  heap.  The  sulphate  of  iron  (copperas),  is  a  power- 
ful deodorizer,  and  a  few  cents  worth  added  to  the  night  soil 
deprive  it  of  any  offensive  smell  for  a  length  of  time  suffi- 
ciently long  to  remove  it. 

A  great  many  bones  are  wasted  on  every  farm  that  make 
valuable  manure,  and  are  easily  prepared  for  use.  Let  a 
barrel  be  devoted  to  bones,  and  whenever  a  bone  is  thrown 
into  it,  cover  it  up  with  unleached  ashes.  Let  the  barrel 
stand  in  the  weather,  and  in  a  few  months  the  bones  will  be 
so  friable  they  may  be  easily  broken  and  converted  into  an 
unadulterated  bone  dust,  better  than  can  be  bought  in  any 
of  the  agricultural  stores.  Or,  if  he  cannot  wait  this  slow 
process,  they  are  easily  burned  and  crushed. 

In  making  soap,  much  fine  phosphate  of  lime  is  thrown 
out  in  the  shape  of  half  eaten  bones,  and  in  spent  lye. 
Soap  suds  are  also  a  fine  addition  to  the  manure  or  compost 
heap.  In  these  are  found,  not  only  the  alkalies  of  soda  and 
potash,  but  also  much  nitrogenous  matter  in  the  shape  of 
grease.  All  these  assist  in  enriching  our  heap. 

No  farm  yard  is  without  the  best  guano.  It  is  true,  the 
guano  of  the  shops  is  from  sea  birds,  whose  food  is  fish,  but 
the  guano  of  the  chicken  house  is  exceedingly  valuable  and 
well  worth  saving.  Mixing  it  with  soil  or  ashes  and  sow- 
ing over  a  garden  plat,  rather  thinly,  for  it  is  very  rich, 
its  effects  are  seen  to  the  row.  However,  the  dung  of  fowls 
and  especially  of  pigeons  is  best  applied  in  the  form  of 
solution.  It  is  not  so  apt  to  burn  up  the  plant  in  this 
manner.  One  part  of  manure  to  ten  parts  of  water  will 
make  a  fine  wash  for  vines,  or  for  fruit  trees  it  is  unex- 
celled. Another  addition  to  the  heap  is  skins,  carrion 
either  of  animals  or  fowls,  scales  of  fishes,  hair,  hoofs,  and 


(121) 

in  fact  every  kind  of  animal  substance  that  may  come  with- 
in reach  that  is  worthless.  Instead  of  dragging  off  dead 
horses  or  cows,  as  an  attraction  for  buzzards  and  dogs,  cut 
them  up  and  let  them  add  to  the  manure  heap.  In  this 
way  a  valuable  addition  will  be  made. 

Among  the  richest  of  all  manures,  not  excepting  animal 
matters  even,  is  soot.  It  is  not  only  rich  in  salts,  but  in 
geine.  It  is  said  there  are  as  much  salts  in  100  Ibs.  of  soot, 
as  there  are  in  one  ton  of  cow  dung.  Nothing  is  better  for 
vegetables,  than  an  application  of  water  with  soot  dissolved 
in  it.  Besides,  bugs  are  not  fond  of  it,  and  it  drives  them 
away.  Throw  all  the  soot  of  the  chimneys,  by  all  means, 
on  the  heap. 

Sheep  dung  is  one  of  our  finest  manures,  and  what  is 
better,  the  animals  do  the  spreading  themselves.  A  worn- 
out  meadow  or  pasture  if  given  to  sheep,  and  they  are  kept 
in  it  any  length  of  time,  will  be  restored  to  its  pristine  fer- 
tility. It  is  said  that  1000  sheep  run  on  a  piece  of  ground 
one  year  will  make  the  soil  capable  of  yielding  grain  enough, 
over  and  above  the  capacity  of  the  soil  without  the  sheep 
manure,  to  support  1035  sheep  an  entire  year.  Unless  the 
sheep  are  nightly  folded,  however,  the  manure  cannot  be 
gathered.  If  it  can  be  collected,  put  on  the  pile,  by  all 
means. 

We  have  now  enumerated  the  principal  sources  whence  a 
farmer  can  draw  his  supplies  without  drawing  upon  his 
pocket.  Many  kinds,  under  our  system  of  farming,  are 
unavailable  to  the  farmer.  I  mean  the  liquids.  Without 
floors  to  the  stables  and  pig- pens,  the  urine,  which  is  the 
richest  of  manures,  so  far  as  salts  are  concerned,  is  wasted. 
But  he  can  save  his  own,  and  the  excrements  of  one  man, 
properly  saved  for  one  year,  will  well  manure  one  acre  of 
land.  Why  let  these  rivers  of  wealth  flow  away  from  the 
farm  ?  He  prefers  going  to  the  shops  and  buying  worse 
than  he  can  prepare  on  his  farm. 

There  are  many  artificial  manures  for  sale.     Plasters  from 


(122) 

Kentucky  and  Virginia;  phosphate  of  lime  from  South  Car- 
olina; bone  dust  from  the  large  cities,  and  many  other  mix- 
tures and  compounds.  But  scarcely  a  farmer  but  what  has 
at  his  command  a  manure,  rich  in  every  respect  and  with 
the  addition  of  a  cheap  alkali,  equal  in  chemical  properties 
to  cow  dung :  I  mean  the  scrapings  of  ponds,  and  the  mud 
of  rivers  and  creeks.  West  Tennessee  has  an  area  containing 
pure  muck,  the  balance  of  the  State  has  no  such  advantage ; 
but  next  to  muck,  and  nearly  as  valuable,  is  pond  and  river 
mud.  By  the  addition  of  two  pounds  of  sal  soda  or  potash, 
such  as  is  used  for  washing  purposes,  to  100  Ibs.  of  muck, 
the  mass  becomes,  as  near  as  possible,  cow  dung.  So  here 
we  have  an  almost  inexhaustible  supply  of  cow  dung, 
without  its  smell  or  offensiveness.  The  green  sand  beds 
in  West  Tennessee  also  will  supply  fertilizers  in  unlimited 
quantities. 

Here  then,  the  provident  farmer  has  all  that  is  requisite 
to  enrich  his  grounds  before  seeding  to  grass.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  clover,  as  a  preceding  crop  to  land  that  is 
about  to  enter  the  long  and  tedious  travail  of  meadow,  is 
absolutely  requisite.  But  after  it  is  started,  the  farmer  need 
not  think,  for  one  moment,  that  grass  adds  to  its  fertility. 
It  does  not,  but  on  the  other  hand  detracts  just  what  the 
farmer  cuts  off;  and  if  he  is  a  wise  farmer,  he  will  put  it 
back  in  a  shape  to  increase  his  drafts  on  it. 

When  a  meadow  or  pasture  becomes  packed,  from  too 
much  pasturage,  it  will  be  well  enough  to  run  a  sub- soil 
through  it  occasionally.  This  loosens  the  under  sod,  and 
the  narrow  helve  does  not  tear  up  the  turf.  Of  course  the 
land  has  been,  if  required,  well  drained.  In  addition  to 
this,  for  the  renovation  of  such  lands,  the  application  of  ma- 
nure is  indispensable.  It  should  be  applied  immediately 
after  a  cutting,  as  it  will  stimulate  the  roots,  made  weak  by 
being  deprived  of  their  foliage,  to  renewed  growth,  and  pre- 
vent much  of  it  from  dying.  Of  course  it  must  be  done  by 
top  dressing,  and  by  far  the  most  efficacious  plan  is  to  apply 


(123) 

it  in  the  liquid  form.  It  may  be  done  by  diluting  the  ma- 
nure with  from  five  to  ten  parts  of  water,  and  using  a  cart, 
such  as  is  used  for  sprinkling  streets.  Another,  and  the 
most  common  way,  is  to  drive  through  the  meadow  with  a 
load  of  good  compost ;  such  as  we  have  described,  and  with 
two  hands  in  the  rear  of  the  wagon  with  shovels,  it  can  be 
scattered  broadcast  as  fast  as  the  team  will  walk. 

Pastures  treated  to  a  top-dressing  after  every  cutting, 
could,  like  the  English  pastures,  instead  of  three  acres  to  the 
ox,  feed  three  oxen  to  one  acre,  and  the  meadows  would  not 
yield  a  scanty  ton  to  the  acre,  but  we  could  continue  to  cut 
until  stopped  by  cold  weather.  An  English  tenant  will  pay 
ten  pounds  ($50)  rent  per  acre  for  meadows,  and  get  always 
two,  frequently  three,  crops  per  year,  yielding  from  three  to 
five  tons  per  acre.  We  could  do  this  also  by  following  the 
same  system  of  farming,  and  that  is,  to  run  the  manure 
wagon  constantly. 


DHOURO  CORN,  DURRA  OR   DOURA,  INDIAN  MIL- 

LJbiT — (Sorghum  vulgare.) 

In  the  West  Indies,  it  it  is  called  guinea  corn,  in  Arabia, 
dhouro,  in  India,  jovaree,  and  in  China,  nagara.  In  some 
countries  it  is  cultivated  as  a  forage  plant,  the  stems  con- 
taining a  large  proportion  of  saccharine  matter,  and  when  dry 
affording  a  fine  hay,  though  rough.  The  nutritive  quality 
of  the  seeds  nearly  equals  that  of  wheat.  From  its  resem- 
blance to  Indian  corn,  in  the  south  of  Europe,  it  is  called 
small  maize.  On  rich  land  it  grows  from  eight  to  twelve 
feet  high,  and  it  produces  more  bushels  of  seed  than  any 
other  known  cereal  to  the  acre. 

There  are  several  varieties  of  this  cereal,  being  sports  from 
the  original.  Chocolate  corn,  Tennessee  rice,  chicken  corn, 
are  some  of  its  synonyms.  It  is  a  native  of  Central  Asia, 


(124) 

and  is  cultivated  extensively  in  Asia,  Africa,  West  Indies, 
Brazil,  and  in  the  southern  part  of  the  United  States.  It 
will  grow  to  perfection  from  Pennsylvania  to  Florida.  There 
are  two  varieties  usually  cultivated,  the  "  white"  and  the 
"  red,"  both  good,  but  the  red  produces  a  great  many  more 
seeds — some  say  as  many  as  four  times  the  quantity  of  the 
other.  The  red  matures  earlier,  too ;  the  white,  being  in 
higher  latitudes,  is  often  caught  by  frosts.  The  latter,  how- 
ever, is  preferable  when  intended  for  food.  A  failure  of 
this  crop  in  Arabia  and  Africa,  would  be  as  great  a  calami- 
ty as  that  of  corn  in  the  United  States.  The  meal  is  white 
and  makes  delicious  breakfast  cakes,  and  is  said  to  be  much 
better  than  corn  meal. 

Its  yield  varies  according  to  the  soil  on  which  it  is  sown. 
On  rich  sandy  loam  or  alluvial  bottoms,  it  will  make  from 
100  to  150  bushels  per  acre,  but  unlike  the  other  cereals, 
except  buckwheat,  it  will  grow  well  on  soil  however  poor. 
On  rocky  clayey  land,  that  will  scarcely  sprout  foxtail,  I 
have  seen  the  most  luxuriant  crops.  It  will  continue  to 
grow  until  frost,  and  after  the  first  head  matures  it  throws 
out  succors  from  other  joints,  and  makes  smaller  heads. 
This  is  expedited  by  going  over  it  and  culling  out  as  fast  as 
it  ripens.  Stock  of  all  kinds  are  fond  of  it,  and  will 
greedily  eat  it.  It  is  almost  equal  to  Indian  corn  for  fatten- 
ing food  for  hogs. 

The  ground  is  plowed  as  well  as  possible,  and  then 
thrown  into  low  ridges,  or  even  better,  no  ridges  at  all ;  the 
seeds  are  then  drilled  three  feet  a  part,  with  a  seed  drill. 
If  sown  by  hand,  the  rows  are  made  with  a  bull-tongue 
plow  and  covered  with  a  harrow.  A  peck  of  seeds  is  enough 
for  an  acre,  unless  they  are  weevil  eaten,  when  more  should 
be  used.  They  should  be  covered  very  lightly,  not  more 
than  an  inch  and  a  half  deep.  When  they  come  up  they 
should  be  thinned  out  by  chopping  across  the  row,  leaving 
the  plants  eighteen  inches  apart,  then  one  or  two  good 
plowings  are  all  the  crop  requires.  There  need  be  no  fear 


(125) 

of  weeds  or  grass  after  it  once  starts  out  to  grow,  as  its 
enormous  foliage,  and  thickly  clustering  suckers  choke  out 
everything  else  on  the  ground.  It  grows  very  rapidly,  and 
will  soon  be  ready  for  havesting.  There  are  various  ways 
for  doing  this,  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  farmer.  Some 
cut  off  the  seed  heads  as  they  ripen,  and  turn  stock  on  the 
stalks,  which  will  eat  them  up  quite  clean.  Others  will 
cut  the  stalks  just  before  frost,  stacking  them  and  feeding 
them  as  hay  through  the  winter  ;  and  these  stalks  will  keep 
better  than  any  other  of  the  pithy  grasses,  not  scouring  like 
Indian  corn  or  sugar  cane.  Still  others  wait  until  the 
largest  quantity  of  seeds  is  ripe,  and  then  cut,  and  house 
seeds,  stalks  and  all  together.  If  the  fodder  is  pulled  it 
makes  excellent  feed,  in  fact  every  part  of  the  plant  makes 
good  feed  for  some  animals.  Care  should  be  exercise  to 
protect  it  from  fowls,  as  they  are  so  fond  of  the  seeds  that, 
frequently,  whole  fields  are  stripped. 

It  is  often  planted  in  the  missing  places  of  corn,  and  it 
does  far  better  than  a  replant  of  corn,  as  one  stalk  will  throw 
out  numerous  suckers,  making  several  large  heads  and  ripen- 
ing with  the  corn.  Drought  has  but  little  effect  in  retard- 
ing its  growth.  It  retains  its  dark  green  color  and  luxuri- 
ant foliage  when  other  plants  are  shriveled  up  by  the  heat. 

In  the  South  it  is  sown  thickly  in  drills,  and  cut  for  soil- 
ing stock,  and  if  not  allowed  to  flower,  it  will  bear  cutting 
until  frost  comes.  Many  sow  it  broadcast  for  hay.  Pre- 
pare the  ground  well  and  sow  one  bushel  of  seed  to  the  acre, 
harrowing  it  in.  It  makes  an  enormous  yield  of  hay,  but, 
from  the  succulent  character  of  the  stalks,  it  is  difficult  to 
cure,  unless  a  good  "spell"  can  be  caught.  However,  if 
the  farmer  has  a  drove  of  mules  or  steers  to  fatten,  he  can 
cut  a  load  or  two  at  a  time,  throwing  it  into  a  rack,  which 
can  be  replenished  as  required,  and  the  hay  will  remain 
green  on  the  ground  until  frost,  so  that  there  is  no  danger 
of  its  being  lost  by  becoming  too  ripe. 

In  Germany  the  seeds  are  deprived  of  the  chaff  and  used 


(126) 

as  rice,  and  sells  for  the  same  price.  In  Asia  and  Africa  it 
is  made  into  a  meal  and  eaten  either  in  gruel,  cakes  or  bread. 
It  can  be  sown  at  any  time  from  the  first  of  April  (a  light 
frost  not  injuring  it)  until  the  first  of  July. 

If  fed  on  the  ground  the  stalks  will  remain  in  the  way  of 
the  planter  for  a  year  at  least,  but  if  plowed  under  in  the 
fall  like  broom  corn,  they  will  rot  by  spring,  and  if  lime  is 
sown  on  them  before  plowing  under,  it  will  greatly  expe- 
dite the  process,  and  the  soil  will  improve  every  year. 

Taking  into  consideration  the  fact  that  it  will  yield  more 
seed,  fodder  and  stalks  on  a  greater  variety  of  soils,  with 
less  labor,  in  any  kind  of  season,  and  return  more  litter  to 
the  land  than  any  other  cereal,  and  being  a  good  food  for 
man  and  beast,  it  may  be  justly  considered  one  of  the  most 
valuable  of  the  cereals.  And  with  these  facts  it  is  most  sur- 
prising that  it  is  raised  to  the  small  extent  it  is. 

About  twenty- five  or  thirty  years  ago  it  could  be  seen  on 
the  plantation  of  almost  every  farmer  in  the  State.  It  gave 
very  general  satisfaction,  and  yet  it  went  out  as  suddenly  as 
it  came  into  popularity.  This  was  due  to  the  cry  that  it  im- 
poverished the  land.  This  verdict  was  accepted  without 
question,  and  its  culture  abandoned;  but  it  is  manifest,  from 
subsequent  experiments,  that  it  detracts  as  little  from  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  as  any  other  cereal — much  less  than 
some. 

If  the  stalks  are  left  and  only  the  grain  and  fodder  re- 
moved, and  the  former  fed  on  the  field  and  plowed  in  as  be- 
fore stated,  the  soil  will  not  be  greatly  injured.  It  will  not 
kill  cattle  like  clover,  and  no  care  is  necessary  but  to  salt 
and  water  them.  One  would  be  surprised  how  quickly  cat- 
tle will  fatten  on  the  bare  stalks,  and  besides  they  will  leave 
the  ground  covered  ankle  deep  with  manured  stalks. 

With  all  these  facts  before  us,  and  our  own  experience  in 
its  cultivation,  we  most  heartily  commend  its  use  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Tennessee.  There  is  no  character  of  soil,  from  the 
rich  alluvial  bottoms  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  sterile  moun- 


(127) 

tain  lands  of  East  Tennessee,  but  will  make  good  crops  of 
dhouro  corn,  and  we  would  like  to  see  it  on  every  farm. 

The  following  analysis  of  the  green  fodder  and  green 
clover  will  show  their  comparative  values : 

Ked  clover  in  blossom : 

Water 780 

Organic  matter 20.3 

Ash 1.7 

Albuminoids 3.7 

Carbohydrate...  8.6 

Crude  fibre 8.0 

Fat 0.8 

Dhouro : 

Water 77.3 

Organic  matter 21.4 

Ash 1.1 

Albuminoids 2.9 

Carbohydrate 11.9 

Crude  fibre 6.7 

Fat 1.4 

It  has  more  heating  properties  and  more  fat  producing 
principles  than  red  clover,  but  is  not  so  rich  in  flesh  formers. 


PEA—  (Pimm  Sativum.) 

The  pea  is  a  native  of  Southern  Europe,  and  its  cultiva- 
tion extends  into  every  State.  The  varieties  are  very  great, 
and  while  some  are  cultivated  extensively  for  table  use, 
other  kinds  are  raised  for  stock^and  for  manurial  purposes. 
Our  garden  pea  was  cultivated  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
Peas  were  found  in  the  ancient  Swiss  lake  dwellings.  They 
were  introduced  into  England  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII, 
and  is  there  still  a  standard  crop.  They  are  sown  or  drilled 
in,  and  are  sometimes  even  sown  with.oats,  the  two  being 
harvested  and  fed  together.  Sheep  and  hogs  are  very  fond 
of  them,  and  especially  are  the  vines  prized  as  a  sheep  fod- 


(128) 

der.  Analysis  shows  that  peas  contain,  ash,  2.5;  albumin- 
oids or  flesh  formers,  22.4;  carbohydrates  or  heaters,  52.3; 
crude  fibre,  9.2;  fat,  2.5;  water,  14.3.  The  composition 
shows  them  to  be  very  nutritious,  and  animals  fatten  rapidly 
when  -fed  with  them  liberally.  The  pea  haulm,  when  dry, 
gives,  by  analysis,  water,  14.3;  ash,  4;  albuminoids,  6.5; 
carbohydrates,  35.2;  crude  fibre,  40;  fat,  2.  This  shows 
the  haulm  to  be  three  times  as  valuable  for  feeding  purposes 
as  wheat  straw,  and  a  little  more  valuable  as  a  feed  lhan 
barley  straw  mixed  with  clover,  and  one-third  better  than 
common  fodder. 

The  cow  or  field  pea  of  the  Southern  States  is  more  like 
a  bean  than  a  pea,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  species  of  dolichos 
belonging  to  the  pulse  family  whose  species  is  undetermined. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  its  value  as  a  farm  crop  has  long  been 
known.  The  ease  with  which  it  is  cultivated,  and  its  great 
value  as  a  forage  plant  and  as  a  fertilizer,  have  given  it  a 
prominent  place  in  Southern  agriculture.  It  belongs  to  the 
leguminous  or  pulse  family,  and  is  known  as  a  pea,  and  for 
that  reason  it  will  be  treated  of  under  that  head. 

The  letter  below,  from  the  Hon.  H.  M.  Polk,  of  Harde- 
man  county,  is  so  thorough  and  exhaustive  that  nothing 
more  need  be  said  on  the  subject,  only  remarking  that  no 
soil  in  this  State  is  so  poor  that  it  will  not  grow  peas. 

BOLIVAK,  HARDEMAN  COUNTY  TENN., 

July  2,  1878. 
Commissioner  J.  B.  Killebrew: 

I  will  not  stop  to  demonstrate  what  is  manifest  to  all  that 
the  South,  from  her  sparse  population,  her  wide- spread 
plantations,  her  adaptation  to  and  her  predilection  for  the 
cultivation  of  certain  of  our  great  Southern  staples,  is  not 
at  this  time  and  may  never  be  in  a  condition  to  keep  tip  her 
arable  lands  by  animal  manures  alone,  and  that  her  only 
alternative  is  in  green  crops  turned  under  for  renovating 
and  increasing  the  productive  capacity  of  her  soil. 


(129) 

In  estimating  the  relative  manurial  values  of  green  crops 
to  bring  up  the  productive  capacity  of  our  soils,  we  meas- 
ure by  the  amount  of  crop  produced  in  the  shortest  time, 
the  elements  upon  which  these  crops  feed,  their  capacity  for 
returning  plant  food  to  the  earth,  and  especially  by  their 
leaving  more  or  less  of  those  elements  in  the  soil  which  are 
necessary  to  the  production  of  the  succeeding  crop.  Nor 
do  we  omit  to  estimate  their  several  capacities  for  sending 
their  roots  deeply  into  the  soil,  thereby  bringing  up  and  de- 
positing near  the  surface  the  aliment  for  plants  which  would 
otherwise  remain  below  the  reach  of  the  roots  of  many  of 
our  most  valuable  cereals.  For  the  accomplishment  of  these 
purposes  no  vegetable  equals  the  Southern  field  pea  and  red 
clover.  In  them  we  find  the  answer  to  that  momentous 
question,  how  and  through  what  means  can  we,  in  the  short- 
est space  of  time,  bring  our  lands  up  to  their  highest  pro- 
ductive capacities  to  meet  our  own  and  the  varied  wants  of 
society.  When  we  reflect  that  all  progress,  civilization,  re- 
finement, culture,  prosperity  and  happiness  of  society  hang 
suspended  upon  the  scale  which  measures  out  the  feeding 
capacity  of  the  earth,  we  begin  to  appreciate  those  vegetable 
productions  promotive  of  this  desired  end.  The  trefoils 
and  legumes  then  begin  to  loom  up  in  their  grand  possibili- 
ties; and  the  clover  and  the  field  pea  assume  an  importance 
not  dreamed  of  before.  Without  them,  on  the  one  hand  we 
must  descend  to  meager  harvests,  perishing  stock,  fast  ap- 
proaching sterility,  hard  times  and  general  discontent.  On 
the  other,  by  their  powerful  aid  we  ascend  up  to  plentiful 
harvests,  fat  stock,  with  the  multiplied  advantages  resulting 
therelrom,  good  living,  money  in  the  purse,  prosperity  and 
contentment.  Can  the  pea  and  clover  accomplish  all  this? 
Worked  in  proper  rotation  with  other  crops  they  most  as- 
suredly can.  In  the  heathen,  but  appreciative  past,  when 
gratitude  was  manifested  by  the  erection  of  temples,  and  by 
solemn  worship  to  those  deities  from  whom  temporal  bless- 
ings were  thought  to  flow,  the  pea  and  clover  of  the  pres- 
9 


(130) 

ent  day  have  been  entwined  with  the  wheat  and  fruit,  crown- 
ing the  brow  of  beneficent  Ceres.  Now,  these  mainsprings 
of  successful  agriculture  in  our  favored  land  are  but  half 
appreciated,  and  are  thrust  aside  by  the  impatient  tiller  of 
the  soil  for  some  other  crop  supposed  to  bring  in  more  im- 
mediate money  profits,  but  which,  in  its  continued  drafts 
upon  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  must  end  in  the  bankruptcy  as 
well  as  the  ruin  of  its  possessor. 

In  a  previous  letter  to  you  I  stated  some  of  the  advantages 
•which  the  field  pea  possessed  even  over  its  great  fellow-la- 
borer, red  clover,  as  a  fertilizer. 

1.  The  pea  will  thrive  upon  land  too  poor  to  grow  clover. 

2.  That  it  will  produce  a  heavy  and  rich  crop  to  be  re- 
turned to  the  soil  in  a  shorter  period  than  any  vegetable 
fertilizer  known. 

3.  That  two  crops  can  be  produced  on  the  same  ground 
in  one  year,  whereas  it  requires  two  years  for  clover  to  give 
a  hay  crop  and  good  aftermath  for  turning  under.     In  this 
time  Four  crops  of  peas  can  be  made. 

4.  That  the  pea  feeds  but  lightly  upon,  and  hence  leaves 
largely  in  the  soil,  those  particular  elements  necessary  to  a 
succeeding  grain   crop,  and  the  pea  lay,  in  its  decay,  puts 
back  largely  into  the  soil  those  very  elements  required  for 
a  vigorous  growth  of  the  cereals. 

5.  There  is  no  crop  which  is  its  equal  for  leaving  the  soil 
in  the  very  best  condition  for  a  succeeding  wheat  crop. 

6.  It  is  the  only  crop  raised  in  the  South  so  rapid  in  its 
growth  and  perfection  as  to  be  made  an  intervening  manu- 
rial  crop  between  grain  cut  in  the  spring  and  grain  sowed 
in  the  fall  upon  the  same  ground.     And  this  alone  makes 
the  pea  invaluable  to  Southern  agriculture. 

7.  In  our  particular  latitude  it   flourishes  equally  with 
clover,  and  with  two  such  renovators  of  the  soil  (aside  from 
their  value  as  food  crops),  no  portion  of  the  earlh  is  equally 
blessed.     North  of  us  the  pea  does  not  succeed;  South,  the 
clover  fails 


(131) 

8.  Its  adaptability  to  other  crops,  producing  in  the  space 
between  our  corn   rows  both  a  provision   and  a  fertilizing 
crop,  with  positive  benefit  to  the  growing  corn. 

9.  The  aid  it  gives  in  producing  cheap  beef,  pork,  milk 
and  butter.     Without  the  pea  pork  could  not  be  produced 
cheaply  where  it  costs  so  much  to  make  corn. 

10.  A  doubled  capacity  for  wintering  stock,  and  with  this, 
a  doubly  enlarged  manure  heap. 

11.  The  large  plantations  of  the  South  can  only  be  re- 
stored by  green  crops  turned  under,  united  to  a  judicious 
system  of  rotation  looking  to  feeding  the  soil.     This  must 
be  aided  by  all  the  manure  manufactured  on  the  plantation. 

12.  The  large  addition  made  to  humus,  upon  which  the 
tilth,  as  well  as  capacity  of  the  soil  for  retaining  moisture 
so  greatly  depends. 

As  for  the  cultivation  of  the  pea,  one  can  scarcely  go 
amiss.  When  two  crops  are  intended  for  renovating,  break 
the  land,  sow  broadcast  and  harrow  in;  or  drill  in  row* 
three  feet  apart,  and  plow  out  when  a  few  inches  high. 
When  the  pods  begin  to  ripen,  if  the  crop  is  intended  for 
manurial  purposes,  plow  under  with  large  two  horse  plow, 
with  a  well  sharpened  rolling  coulter  attached,  or  with  chain 
passing  from  double  tree  to  beam  of  the  plow  to  hold  tbe 
vines  down  for  facilitating  covering.  A  roller  passed  over 
the  vines  before  plowing  under  will  assist  the  operation. 
Caustic  lime  should  be  sown  upon  the  vines  before  plowing 
under  to  promote  decay,  and  neutralize  the  large  amount  of 
vegetable  acid  covered  into  the  soil.  Select  the  pea  whick 
runs  least.  The  vines  are  easiest  covered  into  the  soil. 
They  are  the  black  bunch  pea,  and  the  speckle  or  whippoor- 
will  pea. 

When  planted  in  corn  as  a  food  crop,  the  bunch  pea  ripens 
soonest;  but  the  Carolina  cow  pea,  the  clay  pea,  or  the  black 
stock  pea  are  preferable,  as  they  do  not  readily  rot  from 
wet  weather,  and  will  remain  sound  most  of  the  winter. 
For  early  feeding  of  stock,  plant  whippoorwill  pea  by  itself 


(132) 

in  separate  enclosure  from  corn,  where  stock  can  be  turned 
upon  whenever  desired. 

Peas  are  often  sowed  upon  the  stubble  after  small  grain  is 
harvested.  Flush  up  the  ground,  and  sow  either  broadcast 
or  drill  in  furrow  opened  with  shovel  plow,  covering  with 
scooter  furrow  on  each  side.  Block  off  or  run  over  lightly 
with  harrow  and  board  attached.  Again,  they  are  drilled 
hi  every  fourth  furrow,  when  turning  over  the  stubble,  the 
succeeding  furrow  covering  the  peas.  When  either  of  these 
last  modes  of  planting  is  adopted,  the  peas  should  receive 
one  good  plowing  out  when  they  are  from  four  to  six  inches 
high. 

When  planted  in  corn  (the  corn  should  have  been  drilled 
in  rows  five  feet  apart),  they  should  be  step- dropped  in  a 
furrow  equally  distant  from  each  corn  row,  and  covered 
with  scooter,  with  harrow  or  with  block.  This  should  be 
last  of  May  or  in  the  first  ten  days  of  June.  The  only  work 
they  receive  when  planted  in  corn,  is  a  shovel  or  sweep 
furrow  run  around  them  when  the  corn  is  being  "  laid  by,n 
unless  there  is  much  grass,  when  it  becomes  necessary  to 
give  them  a  light  hoeing.  The  crop  might  be  said  to  be 
made  almost  without  work  when  planted  with  corn  ;  in  fact 
it  is  often  so  made  by  those  planters  who  sow  peas  broad- 
cast in  their  corn,  and  cover  them  with  the  last  plowing 
given  the  corn. 

There  is  much  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  the  vines  in  curing  them  for  winter  hay.  And  as 
much  has  been  written  upon  the  subject,  the  writer  feels 
some  diffidence  in  giving  his  own  views.  Suffice  it  to  say, 
the  great  end  to  be  attained  is  to  cure  the  vines  to  the  ex- 
tent only  of  getting  rid  of  a  part  of  the  succulent  moisture 
in  the  vine,  without  burning  up  the  leaves.  When  exposed 
to  too  much  heat,  the  leaves  fall  very  readily  from  the  stems, 
and  are  lost. 

When  put  up  too  green  and  too  compactly,  they  heat,  and 
when  fermentation  of  the  juices  in  the  vines  and  unripe 


(133) 

pods  occurs,  the  hay  is  seriously  damaged,  if  not  completely 
spoiled.  Mildewed  hay  of  any  kind  is  but  poor  food  for 
stock,  and  when  eaten  is  only  taken  from  necessity  to  ward 
off  starvation.  Some  planters  house  their  pea  hay  in  open 
sheds,  or  loosely  in  barns,  with  rails  so  fixed  as  to  prevent 
compacting.  Others  stack  in  the  open  air  around  poles, 
having  limbs  from  two  to  four  feet  long,  to  keep  the  mass 
of  vines  open  to  the  air,  and  cover  the  top  with  grass. 

There  is  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  proper  manner  of 
curing  and  preserving  this  hay,  but  there  is  none  as  to  the 
value  of  this  rich  food  for  all  stock,  and  especially  for  the 
milch  cow  in  increasing  the  quantity  and  quality  of  her 
milk. 

In  attempting  to  renovate  our  soils  by  the  aid  of  vegeta- 
ble fertilizers,  we  should  not  confine  ourselves  to  one,  but 
should  utilize  all  which  are  suitable  to  our  soil  and  climate. 
The  writer  has  some  sixty  or  seventy  acres  in  clover,  and 
in  much  of  this  grasses  are  sown.  Orchard  grass  and  Herd's 
grass  thrive  well  with  us,  whilst  blue  grass  and  timothy 
find  a  congenial  home  in  the  lime  lands  of  Middle  Tennes- 
see. In  no  part  of  the  State  does  clover  grow  so  well  as  in 
West  Tennessee. 

In  considering  the  great  advantages  of  the  field  pea  to 
the  agricultural  interests  of  our  people,  I  do  not  wish  to  be 
understood  as  disparaging  other  vegetable  renovators  of  the 
soil.  The  field  pea  certainly  possesses  many  advantages, 
such  as  its  adaptability  to  almost  any  soil,  and  to  many 
•crops  grown  with  it  at  the  same  time,  and  with  positive 
benefit  to  the  crop  grown  with  it  on  the  same  ground. 
Each  row  of  corn  should  be  flanked  by  a  row  of  peas. 
Every  spot  of  ground  in  the  field  too  poor  for  corn  can  and 
will  produce  peas.  There  is  nothing  better  to  be  sowed  in 
old  plowed  up  broomsedge  fields,  and  there,  whilst  the  land 
is  being  fertilized,  one  of  the  best  provision  crops  for  stock, 
and  the  best  of  hay  for  milk  cows  in  winter,  is  produced. 
And  a  still  further  advantage  possessed  by  this  valuable 


134) 

legume  is  its  unequaled  capacity  for,  and  its  unapproachable 
merit  as  an  intervening  crop,  (being  both  a  renovating  and 
a  food  crop),  between  small  grain  or  root  crop  in  the  spring 
and  a  grain  crop  in  the  fall.  Do  you  ask  more  of  any  ve- 
getable renovator?  It  is  more  valuable  than  the  English 
turnip  crop,  and  this  crop,  by  those  enlightened  and  emi- 
nently practical  farmers,  is  estimated  annually  at  millions 
of  pounds  sterling.  It  is  doubtful  if  England  could  tide  it 
over  the  next  two  years,  if  deprived  of  her  turnip  crop.  It 
is  the  foundation  of  her  stock  and  manure  production.  In 
contrasting  the  Southern  field  pea  with  the  English  turnip 
crop,  we  begin  to  perceive  its  immense  value  to  southern 
agriculture,  and  realize  that  too  often,  in  reaching  after  the 
go-called  money  crops,  we  have  neglected  the  best  fertilizers 
(as  well  as  food  crop),  ever  given  to  the  agricultural  world. 
In  considering  the  present  impoverished  condition  of  the 
kinds  of  the  South,  we  are  forced  to  confess  it  is  the  work 
of  tillage — of  injudicious,  ruinous  tillage.  Where  hus- 
bandry predominates  over  tillage,  there  is  but  little  leaking 
out  of  the  elements  of  fertility  in  a  soil,  and  there  is  no  es- 
timating how  long  they  will  remain  to  supply  the  food 
necessary  to  a  vigorous  plant  growth.  The  grasses,  includ- 
ing clover  and  peas,  are  the  grand  elements  for  preserving 
and  augmenting  these  elements  in  the  soil.  Hence  we  see 
all  countries  where  husbandry  prevails  grow  rich  in  soil, 
particularly  if  the  tilled  portion  of  the  land  is  under  a  judi- 
cious system  of  rotation.  Now,  tillage,  or  the  simple  culti- 
yation  of  land,  puts  nothing  of  any  value  in  it,  but  is,  of 
ftself,  a  necessary  evil;  evil  because  of  exposing  the  soil  to 
a  scorching  sun,  often  reducing  it  to  a  mass  of  lifeless  clods, 
and  exposing  it  to  an  exhausting  leaching  process,  which 
takes  out  its  very  life  blood.  The  cleaner  and  long  continued 
the  culture,  the  more  the  injury  to  the  land  from  the  destruc- 
tion of  its  humus,  and  from  the  greatest  of  all  destructives, 
teaching.  The  injury  is  augmented  as  the  land  is  rolfing 
and  broken.  Hence  cotton  and  tobacco  (the  first  of  which. 


(  135  ) 

is  not  an  exhauster  of  land,  per  se),  have  brought  ruin  to 
the  best  acres  of  the  South,  whilst  small  grain  and  the 
grasses  have  husbanded  and  increased  the  natural  fertility 
of  the  lands  of  our  Northern  neighbors.  Lands  in  which 
these  too  great  staples  are  grown  should  be  level  lands,  and 
in  the  case  of  tobacco  should  receive,  (outside  the  aid  of 
rotation),  a  generous  manuring.  But  if  I  have  given  th*» 
true  reason  for  the  rapid  decline  of  the  productive  capacity 
of  the  soil  of  the  South  as  contrasted  with  that  of  the  North- 
ern States,  let  me  take  you  one  step  further  and  show  you 
that  in  the  rich  region  of  country  lying  northwest  of  the 
Ohio  river,  we  find  a  very  great  difference  in  the  material 
.prosperity  of  the  farmers  there.  A  portion  of  them  are 
prosperous,  while  others  are  experiencing  all  the  evils  re- 
sulting from  the  comprehensive  term  hard  times.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  learn  the  cause.  The  grain- maker,  whose  whole 
energies  have  been  devoted  to  extracting  the  fertility  of  his 
soil  for  many  consecutive  years,  in  magnificent  harvests, 
finds  his  crops  growing  less  and  less  each  year,  while  the 
stock- raiser  is  prosperous,  having  grown  rich  while  making 
his  land  rich. 

Time  has  here  demonstrated  a  great  truth  which  agricul- 
turists should  not  ignore.  Let  our  southern  farmers  profit 
by  its  inevitable  teaching.  Let  us  determine  to  improve 
our  destructive  farming;  give  our  lands  a  chance  to  grow 
better  instead  of  depreciating  yearly ;  build  up  the  waste 
places;  infuse  new  life  into  our  southern  land,  beautiful 
still  in  her  decline,  and  endeared  the  more  as  we  see  her 
slowly  sinking  under  the  drain  mercilessly  kept  open  by  her 
own  children,  in  the  veins  through  which  her  priceless  life- 
blood  flows. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  accidentally  found  an  old 
document  upon  "  Southern  Agricultural  Exhaustion  and  its 
Remedy,"  from  the  able  pen  of  the  late  Judge  Ruffin,  of 
Virginia.  Although  this  article  was  not  written  specially 
upon  the  merits  of  the  field  pea  as  a  renovator  of  worn 


(136) 

lands,  yet  it  shows  its  great  value  to  the  agriculture  of  the 
South  so  much  more  forcibly  than  anything  I  can  say  in 
advocating  its  claims,  that  I  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  the 
following  paragraphs  entire,  and  with  them  will  close  my 
letter,  already  too  long : 

"  At  the  risk  of  uttering  what  may  be  deemed  trite  or 
superfluous  to  many,  I  beg  leave  to  state  concisely  the  fun- 
damental laws,  as  I  conceive  them  to  be,  of  supply  and 
exhaustion  of  fertilizing  matters  to  soils  and  aliment  to 
plants. 

"All  vegetable  growth  is  supported,  for  a  small  part,  by 
the  alimentary  principles  in  the  soil,  (or  by  what  we  under- 
stand as  ita  fertility),  and  partly,  and  for  much  the  larger 
portion,  by  matters  supplied,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
from  the  atmosphere.  More  than  nine-tenths,  usually,  of 
the  substance  of  every  plant  is  composed  of  the  same  four 
elements,  three  of  which — oxygen,  nitrogen  and  carbon — 
compose  the  whole  atmosphere  ;  the  fourth — hydrogen — is 
one  of  the  constituent  parts  of  water;  and,  also,  as  a  part 
of  the  dissolved  water,  hydrogen  is  always  present  in  the 
atmosphere,  and  in  a  great  quantity.  Thus,  all  these  prin- 
cipal elements  of  plants  are  superabundant,  and  always  sur- 
rounding every  growing  plant;  and  from  the  atmosphere 
(or  through  the  water  in  the  soil),  very  much  the  larger 
portion  of  these  joint  supplies  is  furnished  to  plants;  and 
so  it  is  of  each  particular  element,  except  nitrogen,  much 
the  smallest  ingredient,  and  yet  the  richest  and  most  impor- 
tant of  all  organic  manuring  substances,  and  of  all  plants. 
This,  for  the  greater  part,  if  not  for  all  of  its  small  share 
in  plants,  it  seems,  is  not  generally  derived,  even  partially, 
from  the  air,  though  so  abundant  therein,  but  from  the  soil, 
or  from  organic  manures  given  to  the  soil. 

"  But,  though  bountiful  nature  has  offered  these  chief 
alimentary  principles  and  ingredients  of  vegetable  growth 
in  as  inexhaustible  profusion  as  the  atmosphere  itself  which 
they  compose,  still,  their  availability  and  beneficial  use  for 


(137) 

plants  are  limited  in  some  measure  to  man's  labors  and  care 
to  secure  their  benefits.  Thus,  for  illustration,  suppose  the 
natural  supplies  of  food  for  plants  furnished  by  the  atmos- 
phere to  be  three- fourths  of  all  received,  and  that  one-fourth 
only  of  the  growth  of  any  crop  is  derived  from  the  soil  and 
its  fertility,  still,  a  strict  proportion  between  the  amount  of 
supplies  from  these  two  different  sources  does  not  the  less 
exist.  If  the  cultivator's  land  at  one  time,  from  its  natural 
or  acquired  fertility,  affords  to  the  growing  crop  alimentary 
principles  of  value  to  be  designated  as  five,  there  will  be 
added  thereto  other  alimentary  parts,  equal  to  fifteen  in 
value  from  the  atmosphere.  The  crop  will  be  made  up  of, 
and  will  contain,  the  whole  of  twenty  parts,  of  which  five 
only  were  derived  from  and  served  to  reduce  by  so  much, 
the  fertility  of  the  soil.  These  proportions  are  stated  merely 
for  illustration,  and,  of  course,  are  inaccurate;  but  the  the- 
ory or  principle  is  correct,  and  the  law  of  fertilization  and 
exhaustion  thence  deduced  is  as  certainly  sound.  Then, 
upon  these  premises,  there  is  taken  from  the  land,  for  the 
support  of  the  crop,  but  one-fourth  of  the  aliment  derived 
from  all  sources  for  that  purpose.  And,  if  no  other  causes 
of  destruction  of  fertility  were  in  operation,  one  green  or 
manuring  crop  (wholly  given  to  the  land,  and  wholly  used 
as  manure),  would  supply  .to  the  field  as  much  alimentary 
or  fertilizing  matter  as  would  be  drawn  thence  by  three 
other  crops  removed  for  consumption  or  saK  But  in  prac- 
tice there  are  usually  at  work  important  agencies  for  de- 
struction of  fertility,  besides  the  mere  supply  of  aliment  to 
growing  crops.  Such  agencies  are  the  washing  off  of  solu- 
ble parts,  and  even  the  soil  itself,  by  heavy  rains;  the  has- 
tening of  the  decomposition  and  waste  of  organic  matter,  by 
frequent  tillage  processes  and  changes  of  exposure ;  and 
ploughing  or  other  working  of  land  when  too  wet,  either 
from  rain  or  want  of  drainage.  Also,  a  cover  of  weeds  left 
to  rot  on  the  surface,  or  any  crop  ploughed  under,  green  or 
dry,  as  manure,  is  subject  to  more  or  less  waste  of  its  ali- 


(138) 

mentary  principles  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  decomposi- 
tion. Therefore,  it  is  nearer  the  facts  that  two  years'  crops 
or  culture,  for  market  or  removal,  would  require  one  year's 
growth  of  some  manuring  crop  to  replace,  and  to  maintain 
undiminished  or  increasing  the  productive  power  of  the  fit-Id.. 
The  poorest,  and  also  the  cheapest,  of  such  manuring  crops 
will  be  the  natural  or  "  volunteer "  growth  of  weeds  on 
lands  left  cultivated,  and  not  grazed;  and  the  best  of  all 
will  be  furnished  in  the  whole  product  of  a  broadcast  sown 
and  entire  crop  of  your  own  most  fertilizing  and  valuable 
field  peas. 

"  Thus,  of  each  manuring  crop,  (as  of  all  others),  or  of 
the  fertilizing  matter  thus  given  to  the  land,  the  cultivator 
has  contributed  but  five  parts  to  the  land,  or  its  previous 
manuring,  and  the  atmosphere  has  supplied  fifteen  parts. 
If,  then,  the  cultivator,  by  still  more  increasing  his  own 
contributions,  will  give  ten  parts  of  alimentary  matter  to 
the  land  and  crop,  there  will  be  added  thereto  from  the  at- 
mosphere in  the  same  three- fold  proportion,  or  thirty  parts, 
and  the  whole  new  productive  power  will  be  equal  to  forty. 
And  if  the  soil  is  fitted  by  its  natural  constitution,  or  the 
artificial  change  induced  by  calcareous  or  other  applications, 
to  fix  and  retain  this  double  supply  of  organic  matter,  the 
land  will  not  only  be  made,  but  will  remain  of  as  much 
increased  fertility,  under  the  subsequent  like  course  of  re- 
ceiving one  year's  product  for  manure  for  every  two  other 
crops  removed.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  more  exhausting 
culture  had  been  allowed,  instead  of  either  increased  or 
maintained  production,  or  if  the  crops  take  away  more  or- 
ganic matter  than  nature's  three-fold  contributions  will 
replace,  then  a  downward  progress  must  begin,  and  will 
proceed,  whether  slowly  or  quickly,  to  extreme  poverty  of 
the  land,  its  profitless  cultivation,  and  final  abandonment. 
In  this,  the  more  usual  case,  the  cultivator's  contributions 
of  aliment  (obtained  from  the  soil),  are  reduced  from  the 
former  value,  designated  as  five,  first  to  four,  and  next  sue- 


(139) 

cessively  to  three,  two,  and  finally  less  than  one ;  and  na- 
ture keeps  equal  pace  in  reducing  her  proportional  supplies 
from  fifteen  first  to  twelve,  and  so  on  to  nine  and  six,  and 
less  than  three  parts.  So  the  strongest  inducement  is  offered 
to  enrich,  rather  than  exhaust  the  soil ;  for  whatever  amount 
of  fertility  the  cultivator  shall  bestow,  or  whatever  abstrac- 
tion from  a  previous  rate  of  supply  he  shall  make,  either 
the  gain  or  the  loss  will  be  tripled  in  the  account  of  supplies 
from  the  atmosphere  furnished  or  withheld  by  nature. 

"  In  another  and  more  practical  point  of  view,  the  loss 
incurred  by  exhausting  may  be  plainly  exhibited.  Accord- 
ing to  my  views,  soils  supposed  to  be  properly  constituted 
as  to  mineral  ingredients  do  not  demand,  for  the  maintain- 
ing and  increasing  of  their  rate  of  production,  more  than 
the  resting,  or  the  growth  of  two  years  in  every  five,  mainly 
to  be  left  on  the  land  as  manure. 

"These  are  the  proportions  of  the  five-field  rotation,  now 
extensively  used  on  the  most  improving  parts  of  Virginia. 
And  one  of  these  two  years  the  field  is  grazed,  so  that  parts 
of  its  growth  of  grass  are  consumed,  instead  of  all  remaining 
on  the  field  for  manure.  To  meet  the  same  demands,  the 
more  Southern  planter  might  leave  his  field  to  be  covered 
by  its  growth  of  weeds  (or  natural  grasses),  one  year,  (and 
also  to  be  grazed),  and  a  broadcast  crop  of  pea  vines  to  be 
ploughed  under  in  another,  for  every  three  crops  of  grain 
and  cotton.  But  the  ready  answer  to  this,  (and  I  have 
heard  it  many  times),  is,  "What!  lose  two  crops  in  every 
five  years?  I  cannot  afford  to  lose  even  one."  It  may  be 
that  the  planter  is  so  diligent  and  careful  in  collecting  ma- 
terials for  prepared  manure  that  he  can  extend  a  thin  and 
poor  application,  and  in  the  drills  only,  over  nearly  half  his 
cotton  field;  and  perhaps  he  persuades  himself  that  this 
application  will  obviate  the  necessity  for  rest  and  manuring 
ciops  to  the  land. 

"The  result  will  not  fulfill  his  expectation.  But  even  if 
it  could,  the  manuring  thus  given  directly  by  the  labor  of 


(140) 

the  planter  is  more  costly  than  if  he  would  allow  time  and 
opportunity  for  nature  to  help  to  manure  for  him ;  whether 
alone,  or  still  better  if  aided  by  preparing  for  and  sowing 
the  native  pea,  to  the  production  of  which  your  climate  is 
so  eminently  favorable.  All  the  accumulations  of  leaves 
raked  from  the  poor  pine  forest,  with  the  slight  additional 
value  which  may  be  derived  from  the  otherwise  profitless 
maintenance  of  poor  cattle,  will  supply  less  of  food  to  plants, 
and  at  greater  cost,  than  would  be  furnished  by  an  unmixed 
growth  of  peas,  all  left  to  serve  as  manure. 

"  The  native  or  Southern  pea,  (as  it  ought  to  be  called), 
of  such  general  and  extensive  culture  in  this  and  other 
Southern  States,  is  the  most  valuable  for  manuring  crops, 
and  also  offers  peculiar  and  great  advantages  as  a  rotation 
crop.  The  seeds  (in  common  with  other  p<  as  and  beans), 
are  more  nutritious,  as  food  for  man  and  beast,  than  any  of 
the  cereal  grains.  The  other  parts  of  the  plant  furnish  the 
best  and  most  palatable  provender  for  beasts.  They  may 
be  so  well  made  in  your  climate,  as  a  secondary  growth 
under  corn,  that  it  is  never  allowed  to  be  a  primary  crop,  or 
to  have  entire  possession  of  the  land.  It  will  grow  well 
broadcast,  and  either  in  that  way,  or  still  better  if  tilled; 
and  is  of  an  admirable  and  cleansing  growth.  It  is  even 
better  than  clover  as  a  preparing  and  manuring  crop  for 
wheat.  In  one  or  other  of  the  various  modes  in  which  the 
pea- crop  may  be  produced,  it  may  be  made  to  suit  well  in  a 
rotation  with  any  other  crops.  Though  for  a  long  time  I 
had  believed  in  some  of  the  great  advantages  of  the  pea- 
crop,  and  had  even  commenced  its  cultivation  as  a  manur- 
ing crop,  and  on  a  large  scale,  it  was  not  until  I  afterwards 
saw  the  culture,  growth,  and  uses  in  South  Carolina,  that  I 
learned  to  estimate  its  value  properly,  and  perhaps  more 
fully  than  is  done  by  any  who,  in  this  State,  avail  themselves 
so  largely  of  some  of  its  benefits.  Since,  I  have  made  this 
crop  a  most  important  member  of  my  rotation,  its  culture, 
as  a  manuring  crop  has  now  become  general  in  my  neigh- 


(141) 

borhood,  and  is  rapidly  extending  to  more  distant  places. 
If  all  the  advantages  offered  by  this  crop  were  fully  appre- 
ciated and  availed  of,  the  possession  of  this  plant  in  your 
climate  would  be  one  of  the  greatest  agricultural  blessings 
of  this  and  the  more  Southern  States.  For  my  individual 
share  of  this  benefit,  stinted  as  it  is  by  our  colder  climate, 
I  estimate  it  as  adding,  at  least,  one  thousand  bushels  of 
wheat  annually  to  my  crop." 

I  can  add  nothing  to  what  is  said  above. 

I  am,  Colonel,  very  respectfully,  yours,  etc. 

H.  M.  POLK. 

Bolivar,  Hardeman  county,  Tennessee. 


CHINESE  SUGAR  CORN— (Sorghum  nigrum.) 

In  1854  some  insignifi- 
cant packages  of  seeds  were 
sent  from  the  then  patent 
office,  bearing  this  inscrip- 
tion: 

"SUGAR  MILLET. 

(Sorgho  Sucre.) 

(Good  for  fodder,   green   or    dry, 
and  for  making  sugar.") 

Who  could  have  foreseen, 
from  these  few  characters, 
that  a  plant  was  then  being 
added  to  this  country  more 
important  than  any  since  the 
discovery  of  America  and 
the  discovery,  to  Europeans, 
of  Indian  corn? 

In  tiie  midst  of  the  great 
success  of  the  New  World 
in  agricultuial  products,  the 


(142) 

Old  World  sent  this  boon  to  her  offspring  as  a  token  of 
good  will. 

Within  a  year  or  two  sugar  has  been  made  from  it  of 
good  quality,  and  during  a  recent  visit  to  the  Agricultural 
Department  at  Washington,  I  saw  specimens  of  sugar  man- 
ufactured from  a  new  variety  as  excellent  in  flavor  and  color 
as  the  best  New  Orleans  sugar.  I  distributed  some  of  the 
seeds  of  this  new  variety,  and  I  confidently  predict  that 
Tennessee  will,  in  ten  years,  make  sugar  enough  for  her 
own  consumption  at  a  cost  less  than  five  cents  per  pound. 

HISTORY. 

In  the  fall  of  1863  Dr.  Jay  Browne  was  sent  by  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  to  Europe  to  gather  seeds  for  dis- 
tribution from  the  office.  He  saw  a  small  patch  of  sorghum 
at  Verrieres,  near  Paris,  and  being  struck  with  its  resem- 
blance to  corn  thought  it  would  be  an  accession  to  our  forage 
crops,  and  possibly  might  be  used  as  a  sugar  plant. 

Four  years  before,  M.  de  Montigny  had  sent  the  seed 
from  the  north  of  China  to  the  Geographical  Society  of 
Paris,  in  a  package  of  many  different  kinds  of  seeds.  They 
were  planted,  and  but  one  single  sorghum  seed  germinated. 
The  product  of  this  plant  was  distributed,  and  the  next  year, 
so  great  was  the  demand,  a  gardener  of  Paris  sold  his  entire 
orop  to  Vilmoriu,  Audrieux  &  Co.,  of  Paris,  for  a  franc  a 
seed.  Through  them  it  was  sent  over  the  whole  of  Europe 
and  America,  for  it  was  on  their  farm  Mr.  Browne  saw  it 
growing. 

In  1850  Mr.  Leonard  Wray,  of  the  East  Indies,  a  practi- 
cal sugar  planter,  on  a  vist  to  Kaffir-land,  found  the  imphee, 
another  species  of  sugar  cane,  growing  around  the  huts  of 
the  natives,  which  they  cultivated  for  its  chewing  qualities. 
On  examination,  he  discovered  its  rich  saccharine  character, 
and  was  satisfied  of  its  value.  He  therefore  brought  it  with 
him  to  England  and  had  it  planted  there,  as  well  as  in 
France  and  Belgium.  He  memorialized  the  French  mm- 


(143) 

ister  of  war,  and  also  Mr.  Buchanan,  who  was  minister  in 
England  at  that  time.  He  afterwards  cultivated  it  in  the 
West  Indies,  Brazil,  the  Mauritius,  Australia,  Turkey, 
Egypt  and  in  this  country. 

The  Kaffirs  cultivated  sixteen  varieties  that  differed  in 
the  amount  of  saccharine  principle,  as  well  as  in  the  time 
required  to  mature.  In  1856  Mr.  Wray  exhibited  sugar, 
molasses,  alcohol,  plants  and  seeds  of  the  imphee  at  the 
Paris  Exposition,  and  not  only  obtained  a  silver  medal,  but 
a  grant  of  twenty-five  hundred  acres  of  land  in  Algiers 
was  made  him  by  the  French  government,  that  he  might 
prosecute  his  researches.  During  this  same  year,  Orange 
Judd,  of  New  York,  distributed  25,000  packages  of  seed 
to  his  subscribers,  spreading  them  throughout  the  country. 
In  1857,  Mr.  Wray  brought  to  the  United  States  the  seeds 
of  se/eral  varieties  of  imphee.  So  then,  when  Mr.  Browne 
obtained  the  seeds  it  was  really  in  its  initial  state  of  cultiva- 
tion in  France.  It  had  been  grown  in  China  from  time 
immemorial,  but  with  the  exclusiveness  of  that  people, 
its  very  existence  had  been  jealously  guarded  from  the 
world. 

The  same,  or  a  similar  plant,  had  been  cultivated  in 
Europe  at  different  periods  during  the  dark  ages,  but  the 
want  of  intercourse,  and  the  oppressive  feudal  system  of 
that  'lay  had  repressed  any  advancement  in  science  and  arts, 
as  well  as  in  agriculture. 

The  elder  Pliny,  in  the  first  century,  describes  a  plant 
under  the  name  of  millium  quod  ex  India  in  Italium  invectum 
nigro  colors,  (a  millet  of  dark  color  brought  from  India  to 
Italy).  Millium  means  thousands,  and  refers  to  the  number 
of  seed  on  a  plant.  Fuchius  describes,  in  1512,  a  plant 
cultivated  in  Belgium  called  sorghi.  In  1552,  Fragus  says, 
in  a  work  on  botany,  a  panicum  plinii  was  cultivated  in 
Germany,  and  accurately  describes  this  plant.  In  1591 
Gosner  names  this  same  plant  sorghum.  In  Itaiy  in  1595, 
in  his  commentaries  on  Dioscorides,  Matthioli  calls  it  indi- 


(144) 

cum  millium,  or  Indian  millet.  Gerard,  an  English  writer, 
in  1597,  describes  this  and  other  varieties  of  sorghum  as 
dhouro  corn,  broom  corn  and  chocolate  corn. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  this  plant,  however  new  to  us,  was 
culivated  in  England,  Belgium  and  Italy  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  that  it  was  known  to  Pliny  in  the  first  century. 
Its  usues  were  described  as  so  various  that  it  is  supposed  all 
the  varieties  of  sorghum  were  confounded  by  these  different 
authors.  It  was  recommended  as  fodder  for  stock,  food  for 
poultry  and  hogs,  and  fora  syrup;  while  the  Italians  called 
it  melica  from  its  resemblance  to  honey.  It  was  described 
as  having  seeds,  various  in  color,  from  rufous  to  black,  from 
white  to  yellow  and  red,  and  they  were  said  to  make  an  excel- 
lent bread.  The  bread  had  a  pinkish  tinge,  being  colored 
by  the  husks,  which  could  not  be  entirely  separated  from 
the  seed.  Through  the  caravans  of  the  Syrian  desert,  sor- 
ghum was  carried  from  Asia  to  Africa,  and  there,  under  the 
changes  of  climate,  soil  aud  moisture,  new  varieties  origi- 
nated, and  we  have  the  imphee  canes. 

Linnaeus  calls  it  holcus  saccharatum,  and  the  dhouro  corn 
he  calls  holcus  sorghum.  But  Persoon,  and  others  since, 
have  separated  the  two,  and  applied  to  the  sugar  cane  the 
general  name  sorghum,  and  its  specific  name  nigrum  from 
the  color  of  its  seeds.  These  plants  are  all  called  sorghum 
in  the  East  Indies. 

VARIETIES. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  cane,  and  while  the  descrip- 
tion at  the  head  of  the  article  will  give  the  generic  char- 
acters, it  will  not  the  specific  differences  of  the  various 
kinds.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  the  botanic  descrip- 
tion of  each  variety. 

1st  Race — EUSORGHUM. 
True  Chinese  Sugar  Cane,  (already  described). 


(145) 
2d  Race — IMPHEE. 

1.  Proacocia,  (early  Sorgo).  2.  Ooui-se-a-na,  (Otaheitan). 
3.  White  Imphee,  (Nee  a- gana.)  4.  Black  Imphee,  (Nig- 
errima).  5.  Red  Imphee,  (Cerasina,  cherry  red)  Shla- 
goo  va.  6.  Liberia,  (Liberian). 

In  Tennessee  the  nomenclature  is  shortened  by  all  being 
called  "red"  or  "black,"  and  "Chinese"  or  "African." 

Sorghum,  submitted  to  a  pressure'of  ten  tons,  will  yield 
about  60  per  cent,  of  juice,  leaving  40  per  cent,  of  woody 
fibre,  gum,  juices,  etc.  Of  this  60  per  cent,  about  10  per 
cent,  is  sugar,  both  cane  and  grape,  or,  if  not  reduced  to 
sugar,  it  will  make  about  25  per  cent,  of  syrup,  or  15  per 
cent,  of  the  expressed  juice. 

However,  in  fact,  this  amount  varies  very  much,  accord- 
ing to  the  soil  on  which  it  is  raised.  On  rich  bottom  land, 
where  the  cane  grows  to  be  very  tall  and  large,  there  is 
more  water  and  less  sugar  in  the  juice,  while  on  poor,  sandy, 
dry  land  the  proportion  is  much  greater.  In  some  speci- 
mens of  syrup,  when  boiled  down  thick  and  allowed  to  stand,, 
crystals  of  sugar  will  form  all  through  it.  These  crystals 
are  in  the  form  of  a  modified  rhombic  prism.  But  in  the 
generality  of  specimens,  from  the  presence  of  an  acid,  the 
cane  sugar  is  converted  into  glucose  and  no  manipulation  is 
sufficient  to  cause  it  to  crystalize.  A  few  years  ago,  at  one 
of  the  expositions  held  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  ajar  of  this 
sugar  was  on  exhibition,  and  there  is  a  fair  specimen  now  in 
the  cabinet  of  this  Bureau,  and,  as  before  stated,  some  excel- 
lent specimens  at  Washington.  Should  an  early  and  cheap 
means  be  devised  to  secure  rapid  crystalization  the  result 
will  be  to  bring  down  the  price  of  sugar.  Molasses,  which, 
sold  at  one  dollar  per  gallon,  was  brought,  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  sorghum  syrup,  down  to  twenty  five  and  thirty  cents. 
There  is  so  little  difference  between  this  grape  and  cane 
sugar,  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  some  process  may  yet  be  in- 
vented by  which  the  syrup  can  be  crystalized  at  will.  The 
10 


(146) 

Constituents  are  the  same,  only  having  one  equivalent  more 
of  hydrogen  and  oxygen  than  carbon.  It  is  undoubtedly 
due  to  the  presence  of  some  acid,  as  cane  sugar  can  be  con- 
verted into  glucose  by  the  addition  of  acids,  or  by  passing  a 
stream  of  air  through  the  boiling  syrup.  In  this  inventive 
age  the  mind  of  man  has  only  to  be  turned  to  this  subject 
and  it  will  be  done. 

The  Imphee  cane,  as  a  rule,  produces  more  crystals  in 
the  syrup  than  the  Chinese,  consequently  the  latter  is  more 
universally  cultivated,  being  better  suited  to  making  syrup. 
Besides,  the  African  or  Imphee  cane  grows  much  taller  and 
is  easily  blown  down  by  high  winds,  making  a  tangled 
mass  in  the  field  very  difficult  to  harvest. 

CULTIVATION   AND    HARVESTING. 

Sorghum  will  grow  and  thrive,  like  dhouro,  on  the  poor- 
est soi Is.  When  the  earth,  is  parched  up  by  drought  it 
maintains  its  fresh,  green  color,  and  contimits  to  grow. 
However,  it  will  thrive  better  on  rich  land,  and,  though  the 
juice  may  have  more  water,  it  will  make  far  more  syrup'. 
The  roots  of  sorghum  penetrate  the  soil  farther  than  any 
other  cereal,  and  consequently  det'p  plowing  is  absolutely 
requisite  for  a  full  crop.  Not  only  should  the  plow,  but  the 
sub.soiler  should  also  be  applied.  On  good  land  it  grows  to 
a  height  of  fifteen  or  eighteen  ieet,  on  poor,  badly  prepared 
land  it  stops  at  five  or  six  feet.  Because  it  will  grow  on 
poorer  land  than  other  plants  is  no  evidence  that  poor  land 
is  better  for  it.  Therefore  let  the  land  be  in  good  heat  and 
the  increased  quantity  of  syrup  will  well  repay  the  labor. 
On  gravelly  or  sandy  subsoils,  the  roots  will  go  four  or  five 
feet  deep,  and  on  this  kind  ot  land,  if  rich,  it  will  make  far 
more  syrup  and  of  a  better  quality. 

It  should  be  planted  in  drills  three  feet  apart,  and  in  four 
or  five  days  the  young  tender  stalks  will  come  up,  looking 
yrry  much  like  gi^s.  Bat  it  will  soon  begin  to  grow  rap- 
idly, and  outstrip  grass  or  weeds.  When  three  or  lour 


(147) 

inches  high  it  should  be  chopped  and  thinned  out,  and  but 
little  more  work  need  be  done  to  it.  Two  plowings  are  all 
it  should  receive,  as  the  roots  penetrate  the  ground  so 
thickly  the  plant  would  receive  more  injury  than  benefit  if 
plowed  atter  it  is  three  or  tour  feet  high.  Besides,  by  that 
time  the  ground  is  so  shaded  by  lateral  branches  and  suckers 
the  weeds  will  effect  no  material' injury. 

Much  difference  of  opinion  existed  at  first,  and  still  ex- 
ists, as  to  the  best  time  of  cutting.  Some  assert  when  the 
seeds  are  in  the  milky  state,  others  when  they  are  fully  ma- 
tured, is  the  most  favorable  time.  A  slight  degree  ot  froat 
does  not  injure  it,  and  this  opinion  has  caused  the  loss  of 
many  a  crop,  for,  with  our  usual  procrastination,  this  belief 
is  allowed  to  influence  many  to  let  it  stand  until  a  severe 
frost  comes,  when  the  cane  is  rendered  worthless.  When- 
ever it  freezes,  fermentation  ensues,  and  it  will  not  make 
syrup  at  all,  or  it  it  does  it  is  black  and  has  a  disagreeable 
odor.  But  repeated  experiments  have  demonstrated  the 
fact  that  early  cut  cane  mikes  the  bestand  cleanest  molasses. 
Still  if  the  farmer  has  a  large  crop,  he  will  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  testing  it  in  all  stages,  lor  it  will  take  a  long  time 
to  express  the  juice  of  a  large  crop  and  boil  it  down. 

When  the  seeds  are  in  the  milky  state,  let  the  stripping 
and  boiling  begin.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to  go  into  a 
lengthy  detail  of  syrup  making,  it  being  rather  our  province 
to  treat  of  sorghum  as  a  cattle  food  than  otherwise,  and  we 
will  only  give  a  general  desciiption.  Besides,  since  the  in- 
vention of  cane  mills  and  evaporators,  there  is  hardly  a 
man  in  the  State  who  is  not  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 
process.  One  thing  every  one  should  bear  in  mind  and  that 
is,  do  not  be  too  particular  to  press  every  particle  ol  juice 
from  the  stalk.  The  first  pressure  well  applied  will  gety 
generally  speaking,  all  the  .saccharine  principles,  the  second 
pressure  only  sending  out  gums,  cellulose  and  some  color* 
ing  matters.  The  syrup  would  be  clearer  and  sweeter  iitlvv 
outer  rind  of  the  stalk  could  be  stripped  otf  and  only  the 


(148) 

|ttth  submitted  to  pressure.  Let  the  juice  be  strained  in  a 
blanket,  and  boiled  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  a  shallow  pan.. 
This  is  all  that  is  requisite.  Some  use  the  continuous, 
some  the  interrupted  pans.  The  former  are  becoming  more- 
generally  used,  that  is,  pans  that  receive  the  raw  juice  at 
«?ne  side  and  discharge  the  molasses  at  the  other.  Some- 
times it  happens  that  the  syrup  when  boiled  to  a  sufficient 
Consistency  does  crystalize  without  any  known  cause.  When 
it  is  discovered  to  do  so,  the  farmer  might  take  advantage 
$*f  this  accident  and  very  easily  make  his  own  sugar.  And 
to  test  its  capacity  to  form  crystals  a  small  quantity  at  va- 
rious times  of  evaporating  might  be  boiled  to  a  point  lower 
end  thicker  than  for  syrup  and  set  aside  to  stand  two,  three 
Of  four  days.  If  crystals  are  thrown  down  in  the  vessel 
there  is  then  reason  to  believe  more  of  it  will  do  so.  He 
Can,  therefore,  should  he  desire  to  make  his  own  sugar,  boil 
Jt  to  the  proper  consistency,  or  until  the  steam  conies  up 
through  the  syrup  with  a  burst,  and  set  it  off  in  tubs  to 
granulate.  Sometimes,  however,  this  does  not  take  place 
for  a  few  weeks,  or  even  months.  In  order  to  expedite  the 
process,  it  should  be  kept  in  a  close,  warm  room,  heated  up 
to,  at  least,  90  degrees.  This  can  be  easily  done  by  having 
the  tubs  or  barrels  of  syrup  in  a  room  made  tight,  and  heat- 
ed by  a  stove.  With  but  little  replenishing  of  wood  the 
Stove  may  be  kept  hot  continuously.  When  the  granula- 
tion has  taken  place  fully  let  the  whole  mass,  molasses  and 
all,  be  put  into  stout  cloth  bags  and  hung  up  to  drain.  Or 
it  can  be  put  into  conical  tin  moulds,  shaped  like  a  sugar 
loaf,  with  an  opening  at  the  bottom  covered  by  a  wire  sieve, 
Such  as  is  used  for  straining  milk.  The  bags,  however,  are 
Cheaper  and  equally  as  effective.  Here  let  it  remain  for  a 
sufficient  number  of  days,  to  allow  all  the  molasses  to  pass 
off.  It  can  then  be  taken  down  and  mixed  with  a  very 
spiall  quantity  of  water  and  redrained,  and  this  application 
ef  water  can  be  repeated  until  the  sugar  becomes  as  white  aa 


• 


(149) 

Desired.     The  water  can  then  be  reduced  by  evaporation,  to 
the  desired  consistency  of  molasses. 

In  the  manufacture  of  the  Southern  cane  sugar,  lira* 
water,  (white  wash)  is  used  to  clarify  it.  At  first  this  wafis 
used  in  sorghum,  but  it  was  soon  found  that  it  blackened 
the  syrup  so  much  that  no  after  treatment  would  restore  its 
-clear  color.  Besides,  it  gave  it  a  very  disagreeable  alkalin* 
taste.  Afterwards  the  white  of  eggs  was  used,  which  did 
Tery  well,  but  further  manufacture  brought  out  the  discov- 
ery that  it  contained  so  much  gum  it  would  coagulate  ami 
clarify  itself  better  without  the  addition  of  anything  with  it. 
Skimming  easily  removes  all  impuritie  that  arises  upon  thte 
surface. 

The  amount  of  syrup  procured  from  an  acre  of  ground  IB 
as  various  as  are  the  methods  of  cultivation  and  characters 
of  the  soil.  From  forty  to  two  hundred  gallons  may  hie 
-considered  the  range,  and  when  it  is  considered  that  a  culti- 
vator can  take  his  choice  between  the  two  quantities,  Jfc 
.may  seem  that  there  is  cause  for  emulation. 

But  it  is  rather  as  a  forage  crop  that  this  plant  properly 
belongs  in  this  treatise.  Its  uses  are  almost  as  various  as 
Indian  corn  itself.  As  has  been  already  stated,  it  is  greedi- 
ly eaten  in  all  stages  by  stock  of  every  kind.  The  seeds  arse 
abundant,  and  one  acre  of  good  corn  will  make  from  forty 
to  sixty  bushels  of  seed.  These  can  be  cut  from  the  com 
and  stored  for  use,  taking  care  to  spread  the  heads  until  they 
xiry,  when  they  make  good  food  for  cattle,  horses,  sheep, 
hogs  and  poultry.  When  ground  into  flour  they  make  good 
bread.  Both  the  seeds  and  the  expressed  juice  have  beett 
extensively  used  in  distillation,  large  quantities  of  alcohol 
and  sorghum  brandy  being  annually  made  from  them.  Do* 
ring  the  war  it  formed  almost  the  only  resource  of  the  South 
for  whisky,  all  grains  being  in  too  much  demand  for  dis- 
tillers to  use  them. 

But  probably  it  possesses  more  good  qualities  as  a  green  soil- 
ing plant  than  any  other  one.    Let  it  be  sown  either  broadcast 


(  150 ; 

or  thickly  drilled  with  a  seed  drill  very  early  in  the  spring 
with  about  one  bushel  of  seed  to  the  acre,  and  there  is  no 
end  to  its  feeding  capacity.  It  will  yield  from  20  to  30  tons 
,of  green  fodder  to  the  acre,  that,  when  dry,  will  make  three 
Or  four  tons  of  the  sweetest  and  best  of  hay,  and  stock  will 
-€at  up  the  last  vestige  of  it.  The  proper  time  of  cutting  is 
•when  the  heads  begin  to  flower,  when  it  can  be  cut  and 
ibundled  as  corn  fodder,  or  left  spread  on  the  ground,  if  the 
-weather  is  good,  for  several  days,  and  it  will  dry  enough  to 
store  but  not  in  too  large  a  bulk.  Its  stems  are  so  suocu- 
Jent  that  it  will  not  cure  quickly,  the  juices  in  it,  however, 
will  sugar  directly,  and  then  it  will  keep  as  well  as  timothy. 
It  possesses  fattening  qualities  in  an  eminent  degree,  and 
nothing  like  it  was  ever  used  for  improving  a  drove  of 
mules.  But  if  the  farmer  has  a  drove  of  mules  or  herd  of 
cattle  or  milch  cows,  it  can  be  fed  to  them  from  the  time  it 
is  two  feet  high,  and  they  will  eat  it  with  avidity.  By  the 
time  a  field  is  gone  over,  it  will  be  ready  to  cut  again,  as 
the  root  freely  throws  up  new  suckers,  and  will  continue  to 
do  so  until  stopped  by  the  frost.  Thus,  as  many  as  three 
crops  can  be  cut  before  it  is  destroyed  by  the  cold.  Or,  if 
it  is  not  wanted  as  green  forage,  it  can  be  cut  at  blossoming, 
at  least  twice,  without  resowing,  and  the  second  crop  will, 
be  as  good  as  the  first.  A  mule  raiser  in  Williamson  coun- 
ty has  several  large  racks,  and  as  soon  as  the  hay  is  in  con- 
dition to  cut,  he  draws  a  load  to  each  rack  daily,  and  the 
mules  are  allowed  to  go  to  it  ad  libitum,  so  the  farmer  has 
only  to  give  them  grain  to  complete  the  process  of  fat- 
tening. 

MANUFACTURE   OF   SUGAR   FROM   SORGHUM. 

When  sorghum  was  first  introduced  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States  they  were  informed  it  would  not  only 
make  syrup,  but  that  the  Chinese  made  all  their  sugar 
from  it.  But  little  attention  was  given  this  product  of  cane 
Ibowever,  and  the  cultivators  were  content  to  make  it  into- 


(151) 

syrup,  as  this  alone  made  it  of  immense  value  to  the  coun- 
try. Still  every  one  who  made  syrup  observed  that  occa- 
sionally it  granulated  so  that  it  would  not  pour  out  of  the 
barrel.  In  the  face  of  this,  writers  set  it  down  that  the 
syrup  was  grape  sugar  and  no  treatment  would  make  it 
granulate.  This  being  accepted,  no  further  effort  was  at- 
tempted to  make  sugar,  and  so  the  cultivation  has  continued 
with  that  understanding  until  within  the  last  few  years. 

The  exception  was  established  by  the  experiments  of  a 
few  enterprising  gentlemen  who,  reporting  their  success  in 
eliminating  sugar  from-  the  c-ane,  were  encouraged  by  the 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  Gen.  LeDuc,  to  extend  their 
experiments  until  now  it  has  been  completely  proved  that  it 
not  only  makes  sugar,  but  to  a  degree  that  makes  it  very 
profitable. 

This  department  being  desirous  of  contributing  every- 
thing in  its  power  to  add  to  the  wealth  and  resources  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  has  made  accurate  investigations  as  to 
the  process  of  sorghum  sugar  making  in  all  its  details* 
With  this  view  the  Commissioner  has  lately  visited  all  the 
States  'engaged  in  the  business  and  attended  at  the  experi- 
mental works  at  Washington  where  the  whole  process  was 
pointed  out.  In  giving  the  details  to  the  public  the  De- 
partment can  vouch  for  the  reliability  of  the  statements  in 
so  far  as  the  information  of  trustworthy  men  will  permit. 
Of  course  there  are  the  differences  of  climate  and  soil  to  be 
considered,  but  these  will  be  in  favor  of  the  South,  as  we 
have  decided  advantages  over  the  States  North  in  the  soil,, 
which  gives  more  saccharine  matter,  and  in  the  increased 
time  allowed  for  working  the  cane  from  the  length  of  our 
seasons.  In  this  matter  the  Department  must  acknowledge 
its  obligations  to  Messrs.  G.  W.  Stockwell  and  David  C. 
Scales  for  valuable  assistance.  Before  entering  upon  a  de- 
scription it  may  be  of  interest  to  say  that  in  a  short  time 
one  of  the  most  enterprising  business  men  of  Nashville  will 
engage  in  the  business  of  sugar  making.  He  is  now  getting 


(152) 

up  all  the  necessary  information  to  enable  him  to  go  into 
the  business  intelligently,  and  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  his 
success  will  invite  others  to  enjoy  the  profits  of  the  business. 

The  process  of  sugar  making  involves  an  outlay  of  from 
f  3,000  to  $10,000,  according  to  the  character  of  the  machine- 
ry employed.  The  former  machine  will  not  take  the  sugar 
through  the  refining  process,  only  through  the  centrifugals, 
a  machine  that  revolves  with  great  rapidity  and  throws  out 
the  molasses,  leaving  a  dry  white  sugar,  equal  to  Coffee  A 
sugar,  but  purer  than  any  kir.d  except  the  granulated  su- 
gars. There  are  so  many  adulterations  of  sugar,  molasses 
and  honey,  that  even  were  it  carried  no  further,  this  would 
add  greatly  to  its  purity  and  health  fulness.  Nearly  all 
those  beautiful  fancy  brands  of  syrups  that  attract  the 
admiration  of  house  keepers,  are  concocted  from  corn  starch 
and  poisonous  acids,  with  the  addition  of  glucose.  Even 
much  of  our  sugar  is  made  from  these  materials,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  eliminate  all  the  poisonous  acids  from  it. 

The  finer  and  more  costly  machines  carry  it  through  a 
refining  process,  making  all  the  fancy  brands  of  sugar  and 
syrup.  The  establishment  of  a  refinery  involves  the  erec- 
tion of  numerous  steam  works  to  boil  the  syrup  to  the  proper 
consistence,  and  these  sell  to  the  refiners  their  products,  either 
in  the  form  of  syrup  or  semi- syrup  and  mush  sugar.  The 
latter  is  made  by  boiling  the  syrup  to  a  certain  consistence 
and  then  putting  it  in  vats,  where  it  remains  in  a  cool  atmos- 
phere to  granulate,  which  process  is  completed  in  forty-eight 
to  fifty  hours. 

Cane  is  grown  according  to  the  directions  given  above- 
To  make  sugar,  however,  the  soil  is  never  fertilized  nor  is  the 
greund  stirred  after  the  cane  gets  twenty  inches  high,  as  either 
of  these  measures  injures  the  character  of  the  juice.  The 
quantity  of  juice  as  well  as  its  richness  varies  with  every 
season.  When  the  seasons  are  wet  more  juice  is  made,  and 
when  dry  lessjuice  but  more  sugar.  In  these  there  is  but  little 
difference,  except  in  the  labor  of  boiling  down.  In  wet 


(153) 

seasons  the  juice  makes  about  8  per  cent,  of  sugar,  while  in 
dry  seasons  it  reaches  from  12  to  14  per  cent. 

The  best  soil  for  growing  sorghum  is  sandy  or  gravelly 
loam,  and  the  land  that  makes  nothing  else  will  turn  out  a 
fair  crop  of  the  cane.  It  is  the  one  crop  that  is  unaffected 
by  droughts;  for  let  the  season  be  as  dry  as  it  ever  becomes 
in  this  country,  the  cane  grows  sufficiently  large  to  produce 
a  good  yield.  Cane  stripped  of  its  leaves  will  make  from 
37  to  39  per  cent,  of  its  weight  in  juice. 

An  acre  of  first-class  land  will  make  30  tons  per  acre,  and 
it  varies  down  to  10  tons  with  the  character  of  soil  and  cli- 
m  ite,  and  method  of  cultivation.  The  Commissioner  of  Ag- 
riculture at  Washington  caused  analyses  to  be  made  of  every 
species  of  cane  grown  in  the  United  States,  and  ascertained 
that  the  variation  in  amount  of  syrup  or  sugar  was  so  slight 
that  but  little  attention  need  be  given  to  the  species.  He 
also  found  out  that  it  makes  good  syrup  and  sugar  in  every 
stage  of  its  growth,  from  the  milk  stage  of  the  seeds  to  their 
full  ripening,  so  this  peculiarity  enables  the  farmer  to  begin 
the  process  of  cutting  and  boiling  down  at  an  early  period 
of  its  growth,  which  can  be  continued  for  at  least  six  weeks 
after  the  full  ripening  of  the  seeds.  He  recommends,  how- 
ever, that  it  should  be  boiled  down  as  soon  after  cutting  as 
possible,  as  the  juice  in  the  ends  lerments  and  some  of  it  is 
thus  lost. 

The  poorest  syrup  makes  two  to  three  pounds  sugar,  while 
the  be&t  makes  nine  pounds  per  gallon.  The  medium  and 
average  may  safely  be  put  at  six  and  a  half  pounds  per  gallon 
of  syrup.  But  there  is  no  loss  in  it,  or  not  more  than  two 
per  cent.,  as  what  is  left  makes  a  choice  and  superior  syrup. 
It  may  be  safely  said  that  one  gallon  of  syrup  will  make 
ninety- eight  per  cent,  of  sugar  and  syrup. 

In  Minnesota,  where  the  business  has  already  assumed 
large  proportions,  there  are  but  about  two  months  in  which 
to  make  syrup,  while  in  Tennessee  the  seasons  extend  from 
the  1st  of  August  to  the  1st  of  January. 


(154) 

The  refinery  can  work  all  the  year  from  the  store  of  syrup 
it  lays  in,  provided  the  farmers  grow  enough  to  keep  them 
at  work. 

The  refinery  in  Minnesota  buys  cane  and  syrup.  There 
is,  as  yet,  but  one  large  refinery,  and  that  is  at  Faribault, 
Minnesota,  although  there  are  hundreds  of  lesser  ones  that 
act  as  feeders  to  the  larger  one. 

:.  From  $2  to  $3  per  ton  are  paid  for  the  cane,  stripped  and 
ready  to  grind,  or  from  twenty  to  thirty  cents  per  gallon  for 
the  syrup,  according  as  the  saccharorneter  declares  the  pro- 
portion of  saccharine  matter,  which  in  every  case  under- 
goes this  test.  Thus  the  farmer  is  incited  to  produce  a  first- 
class  syrup.  By  planting  varieties  of  cane  that  mature  at 
different  times,  the  farmer  can  take  advantage  of  the  seasons, 
and  thus  get  in  a  much  larger  crop,  with  less  crowding  for 
labor  than  if  it  all  ripened  at  once. 

From  investigations  made  by  Gen.  Le  Due  there  is  but 
little  difference  in  the  amount  of  sugar  or  syrup  between 
the  Louisiana  cane  and  sorghum,  and  it  requires  substan- 
tially the  same  machinery  to  convert  it  into  sugar. 

Dr.  Wilhelm,  of  Minnesota,  a  celebrated  chemist,  has 
made  discoveries  of  materials  that  free  the  juice  of  all  acids 
and  vegetable  matters  that  have  operated  so  far  to  make  the 
taste  of  sorghum  so  objectionable  to  many  persons.  He  and 
Messrs.  Blakely,  a  capitalist,  and  Mr.  Jolly,  the  inventor  of 
the  machines,  have  a  manufactory  of  the  machines,  and 
they,  in  selling  machines,  agree  to  impart  the  secret  of  these 
chemical  agents  to  purchasers,  as  well  as  to  teach  them  the 
art  of  refining  the  sugar  and  syrup.  By  aid  of  these  pro- 
cesses every  grade  of  Louisiana  sugar  and  syrup  is  made> 
and  they  compare  most  favorably  with  them.  The  polari- 
scope  shows  a  grade  of  ninety-five  to  ninety-eight  per  cent., 
the  crystals  are  sharp  and  well  defined,  and  the  cubes  are 
perfect,  and  this  is  all  that  is  claimed  for  the  best  Louisiana 
sugar.  The  syrup  will  yield  about  seventy  to  eighty-five 
per  cent,  of  its  bulk  or  weight  in  sugar.  A  ton  of  good  cane 


(155) 

.will  make  one  hundred  pounds  of  sugar,  and  six  gallons  of 
.syrup,  according  to  the  testimony  of  experts.  If  this  be  so, 
the  profits  of  sugar  making  ;  re  enormous,  as  any  one  can 
see  by  a  small  calculation.  The  world  has  never  yet  had  a 
supply  equal  to  the  demand,  hence  its  high  price.  But  if 
.this  business  is  pursued  to  its  full  capacity,  the  supply  will 
stimulate  a  greater  consumption,  as  any  family  man  knows. 
In  short,  there  is  no  danger  of  glutting  the  market.  It 
may  drive  beets  out  of  the  trade,  but  it  will  always,  let  the 
supply  be  as  great  as  it  may,  command  a  remunerative  price. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  every  year  send  out  one 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  to  buy  foreign  sweets.  The 
effect  of  keeping  this  immense  sum  at  home,  and  distribut- 
it  among  the  farmers,  will  be  felt  materially.  This  economic 
view  alone  is  a  great  inducement  to  this  department  to  stim- 
ulate the  production  of  sugar. 

Nor  is  the  production  of  sugar  and  syrup  confined  to 
sorghum.  Lirge  quantities  have  been  and  are  being  made 
from  Indian  corn  stalks.  This  department  would  not 
recommend  the  erection  of  machines  lor  that  purpose,  but 
where  they  exist,  and  cane  is  stripped  of  its  corn  for  roast- 
ing ears  in  market  gardens,  the  stalks  could  be  utilized  in 
this  manner  rather  than  left  to  dry  up.  It  does  not  make 
so  much  syrup  or  sugar  as  sorghum,  but  it  is  as  good. 

Capt.  Blakeley  has  submitted  specimens  of  sugar  and 
syrup  to  the  Merchants7  Exchange  ot  Minneapolis,  and  they 
speak  of  it  in  the  highest  terms  as  being  equal  in  every 
respect  to  the  sugar  and  syrup  of  commerce.  It  was  then 
submitted  to  the  polariscope,  and  it  showed  the  presence  of 
ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  sucrose,  or  true  sugar. 

From  repeated  experiments  made  by  the  Minnesota  re- 
finery, and  by  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  at  Washing- 
ton, it  costs  about  two  cents  to  make  a  pound  of  sugar. 
Take  the  price  of  ten  to  twelve  cents,  its  present  value,  and 
the  profit  is  apparent. 

Not  only  does  this  new  process  add  sugar  to  the  country, 


(156) 

but  pure  syrup,  a  thing  much  rarer.  Millions  of  gallons 
of  adulterated  honey  are  sold  every  year,  as  well  as  other 
impure  syrups.  By  this  refining  process  pure  syrups  of  de- 
lightful flavor  are  made  so  cheaply  they  can  undersell  even 
the  adulterations  so  common  in  all  stores.  The  United 
States  make  315,000,000  gallons  of  syrups  from  sorghum 
and  Louisiana  cane,  while  the  country  consumes  twice  that 
amount.  It  has  its  growth  in  the  laboratories  of  the  adul- 
terator, instead  of  the  sugar  mills  of  the  country.  It  will 
add  no  little  to  the  healthfulness  of  the  people  when  this 
vile  trade  is  arrested,  which  can  only  be  done  by  making  a 
pure  syrup  that  will  undersell  the  fabricated  article.  Sor- 
ghum presents  the  only  solution  to  this  difficulty,  and  it  is 
to  be  hoped  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  it  will  be  ac- 
complished. It  will  require  a  large  increase  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  cane.  If  the  erection  of  mills  has  the  same  effect 
in  Tennessee  as  it  had  in  Minnesota,  the  increase  in  the 
amount  grown  will  be  enormous.  It  will  be  the  same  here, 
doubtless,  as  there  are  large  amounts  of  land  devoted  to 
products  that  often  fail,  such  as  cotton,  tobacco,  and  wheat. 
Sorghum  never  fails.  When  it  gets  a  start  it  will  grow 
with  or  without  care. 

The  farmers  of  Minnesota  grow  early  amber  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  all  other  varieties,  and  they  think  no  other  kind 
will  succeed.  But  Gen.  Le  Due  has  established  the  fact 
that  no  material  difference  exists  between  them,  one  variety 
being  as  good  as  another.  It  may  be  well  enough  to  try 
the  early  amber,  however,  and  possibly  the  experience  of 
Tennesseans  may  discover  a  difference.  The  amber  is  a 
sport  or  hybrid  of  some  of  the  African  varieties. 

Above  is  stated  the  difference  of  the  various  machines. 
Supposing  that  only  one  refinery  will  be  established,  it  will 
be  of  interest  to  farmers  to  know  the  best  process  of  pre- 
paring cane  for  sale  to  the  refinery.  The  ordinary  mill  and 
evaporating  pan  only  are  required.  Let  the  syrup  be 
boiled  in  the  pans  as  usual,  until  it  is  of  the  ordinary  thick- 


•  ( 157 ) 

ness.  In  this  form  it  13  salable  to  the  refinery  as  well  as  to 
consumers.  At  an  outlay  of  $3.000  a  farmer,  or  a  combi- 
nation of  farmers,  can  sell  sugar  to  the  refinery,  or  to  the 
general  market,  that  is  equal  to  the  best  coffee  sugars. 
This  is  done  by  the  addition  of  a  "centrifugal,"  an  iron  box 
with  gauze  wire  sides,  that  revolves  with  amazing  rapidity 
iu  a  hollow  cylinder,  and  it  throws  out  every  particle  of 
fluid  matter,  retaining  only  the  solid  crystals  of  sugar.  Of 
course,  the  centrifugal  can  only  be  revolved  with  the  aid  of 
steam.  But  steam  is  so  far  superior  to  furnaces  for  the 
evaporation  of  the  juice  of  sorghum  that  it  will  be  an  im- 
provement to  employ  it  for  that  purpose  even  if  a  centrifu- 
gal is  not  provided.  Hon.  Seth  H.  Kinney,  of  Morristown, 
Minnesota,  proposes  to  sell  these  machines  and  send  a  man 
to  teach  their  use. 

Another  method  of  selling  to  the  refinery  is  the  "  mush 
sugar."  This  is  made  by  the  use  of  the  ordinary  mill  and 
evaporator  and  granulating  pans.  First  boil  the  juice  to  a 
certain  consistency,  shown  by  an  instrument  called  the 
saccharometer,  then  place  the  syrup  in  pans  provided  for 
the  purpose,  that  shut  up  like  a  chest  of  drawers.  It  here 
remains  for  a  certain  time,  varying  from  forty- eight  hours 
to  three  weeks,  when  it  is  found  to  be  in  the  condition  that 
is  called  mush  sugar,  and  it  is  then  ready  for  the  centrifugal 
or  the  refinery.  It  would  be  a  good  idea  for  several  neigh- 
bors to  pool  together  and  provide  one  centrifugal  for  a 
hundred  mills,  as  it  can  be  run  at  any  time  throughout  the 
winter  or  the  succeeding  year. 

These  machines  will  soon  appear,  however,  when  the  erec- 
tion of  a  refinery  creates  a  demand  for  their  services. 

Messrs.  Stockell  and  Scales  have  kindly  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  a  correspondence 
held  with  persons  owning  these  supplemental  machines,  from 
which  the  following  information  has  been  gathered.  The 
reader  will  notice  how  reticent  they  are  about  giving  the 


(158) 

details  of  the  process  they  employ.     It  is  tHe  fear  of  com- 
petition which  influences  them  to  this  silence. 

W.  Z.  Haight,  of  Winnebago,  writes: 

The  early  amber  is  the  best  variety  for  sugar  making.  Select  sandy  or 
gravelly  land,  and  prepare  it  as  for  a  crop  of  Indian  corn.  Sow  the  seed 
in  drills  four  feet  apart,  and  cultivate  in  the  same  manner  as  corn  is  cul- 
tivated. When  the  corn  is  twenty  inches  high  allow  it  to  take  care  of  it- 
self, as  plowing  it  again  would  cut  the  surface  roots,  and  thus  injure  the 
quality  of  the  juice.  When  the  seeds  are  in  the  dough  state  begin  to  cut, 
first  stripping  off  the  leaves  and  cutting  off  the  heads.  Cut  it  off  at  the 
first  and  last  joint.  Some  allow  it  to  lie  after  cutting  five  or  six  days,- 
while  others  contend  it  is  best  to  grind  at  once.  I  have  never  seen  any 
difference,  and  the  range  gives  more  time  to  get  it  ground  up.  My  syrup 
makes  about  eighty  per  cent,  of  granulated  sugar.  It  will  make  good 
syrup  when  the  seeds  are  too  green  to  germinate,  and  it  also  makes,  for 
me,  good  syrup  when  it  has  been  cut  and  has  lain  seven  weeks.  Bat  this 
is  an  extreme  that  should  be  avoided  if  possible.  If  possible  to  avoid  it, 
it  should  never  lie  longer  than  one  week.  An  ordinary  good  mill  and 
-evaporating  pan  should  make  20,000  gallons  syrup  in  one  season.  I  get 
my  syrup  worked  into  sugar  on  the  shares,  and  my  sugar  will  compare 
favorably  with  any  sugar  brought  from  New  Orleans.  Any  farmer  can 
reduce  his  juice  to  syrup,  leave  it  in  pans  to  granulate,  and  by  use  of  a 
centrifugal  convert  it  into  sugar.  The  centrifugal  is  a  sieve  like  box  that 
revolves  with  great  rapidity,  and  it  throws  out  the  molasses,  leaving  the 
sugar.  There  is  next  to  no  waste  in  the  syrup,  as  what  does  not  make 
sugar  will  make  fine  syrup. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Thorns,  of  Crystal  Lake,  Illinois,  writes: 

A  ton  of  cane  will  make  twenty  gallons  of  good  syrup.  This  syrup 
sells  for  fifty  to  sixty  cents  per  gallon.  Each  ton  of  cane  will  make  one 
hundred  pounds  of  sugar  and  eight  gallons  of  syrup.  The  machinery  to 
work  out  one  hundred  tons  per  day  will  cost  from  $1,200  to  $1,500.  This- 
includes  the  services  of  a  man  to  teach  the  business. 

Mr.  C.  F.  Miller,  of  Dundas,  Rice  county,  Minnesota, 
writes : 

Cane  machinery  is  very  expensive.  First-class  machinery,  with  vacuum 
pans,  centrifugal,  bons  dust  filterers,  etc.,  etc.,  will  co^t  $10,000.  This  will 
work  up  a  crop  of  two  hundred  acres  in  a  season.  A  machine  that  will 
work  up  a  crop  of  five  hundred  acres  will  cost  double  as  much.  But  it 
can  be  used  for  refining  purposes  all  the  year.  The  business  is  more  re- 


(159) 

munerative  than  anything  I  ever  knew  of.  It  will  make  any  man  of-good 
judgment  rich  in  a  few  years  He  can  make  enough  in  the  first  season  to 
pay  all  expenses,  and  the  cost  of  the  machinery.  The  amber  cane  is  the 
best.  It  will  make  in  this  climate  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred 
gallons  per  acre.  I  have  made  four  hundred  gallons  on  one  acre.  Many 
other  varieties  are  raised  here,  but  amber  is  the  best.  The  early  orange 
comes  off  too  late  to  suit  us,  but  would  make  a  fine  successive  crop  with 
you  in  Tennessee. 

Hon.    Seth    H.    Kiuney,    of  Morristown,    Kice    county, 
Minnesota,  writes : 

About  ten  tons  of  cane  is  an  average  crop  with  us.  The  average  yield 
is  one  hundred  and  sixty  gallons  per  acre  of  good  syrup,  and  this  makes, 
on  an  average,  six  pounds  of  sugar  per  gallon,  leaving  the  balance  in 
syrup.  It  costs  six  and  a  half  cents  per  gallon  when  made  thick  enough 
for  sugar.  We  plant  and  cultivate  in  drills,  as  Indian  corn  is  raised, 
rows  three  and  a  half  feet  apart.  But  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  check 
it  off  on  hills  four  feet  apart  each  way.  I  strip  the  leaves  off  with  a 
forke'd  stick,  cutting  off  the  seed  first.  We  prefer  the  amber  variety. 
There  are  seventeen  factories  in  my  vicinity,  each  as  large  as  mine,  be- 
sides some  smaller  ones,  all  sprung  up  within  the  last  two  or  three  years. 
I  have  been  grinding  and  making  syrup  twenty  years,  but  have  been 
making  sugar  about  six  years.  I  find  it  very  profitable.  I  pay  $2.80  per 
ton  for  cane.  One  ton  makes  one  hundred  pounds  sugar  and  sixteen  gal- 
lons syrup.  I  work  at  it  five  or  six  weeks.  I  have  expended  about  $3,000 
in  perfecting  my  machinery.  We  have  a  good  thing  of  it  out  here  in 
Minnesota,  and  there  is  no  good  reason  why  you  should  not  enjoy  it  also. 
It  is  within  the  reach  of  any  man  of  ordinary  intelligence.  He  can  soon 
learn  with  a  little  showing.  It  is  the  very  best  agricultural  pursuit  we 
know  or  ever  heard  of.  It  beats  wheat  a  long  way  with  us,  and  will  beat 
cotton  with  you.  It  is  a  cash  business,  also.  It  will  bring  in  cash  at  all 
times,  and  never  lacks  a  purchaser.  It  will  pay  you  to  send  for  a  press 
and  go  into  the  business.  I  have  made  sugar  now  about  six  }ears,  and 
each  year  find  out  something  new  that  lessens  the  work  and  makes  better 
sugar.  The  early  amber  is  the  best  by  all  odds.  I  have  supplied  the 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture  with  amber  seed  every  year  for  seventeen 
years.  Last  year  I  sold  him  50,000  Ibs.  of  seed,  besides  shipping  2,400 
Ibs.  to  Japan  and  1,500  Iba.  to  France.  It  retails  at  fifty  cents  per  pound, 
though  I  only  got  ten  cents  per  pound.  That  I  shipped  I  got  eighteen 
cents  for.  The  stalk  of  the  amber  is  eleven  to  twelve  feet  high,  and  three- 
quarters  to  one  inch  in  diamtter. 

This  closes  what  is  to  be  said  on  the  subject.     It  is  seen 
that  there  is  a  difference  of   opinion  about  the  results  or 


(160) 

yield,  hut  this  arises  from  the  difference  in  soil  and  treat- 
ment. But  even  taking  a  point  far  helow  the  lowest  esti- 
mate and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  yield  is  very  great.  The 
man  who  takes  the  initiative  in  this  business  will  probably 
work  without  competition  for  a  few  years.  In  that  time  he 
will  reap  rich  rewards,  for  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  profit- 
ableness of  this  special  industry.  When  the  matter  of 
making  sorghum  sugar  was  first  agitated,  this  department 
held  aloof  from  recommending  it  to  the  citizens  of  the  Stsite. 
lit  is  the  policy  of  the  Bureau  to  act  conservatively,  and  to 
do  nothing  and  to  recommend  nothing  that  will  cause  the 
people  to  lose  money.  The  attention  of  this  Department 
has  been  drawn  to  it  constantly  by  prominent  gentlemen, 
among  them  the  late  Col.  Sam.  D.  Morgan,  and  now,  by 
actual  observation,  it  can  conscientiously  recommend  the 
production  of  sugar  from  sorghum  as  a  highly  profitable 
pursuit.  And  such  being  the  conclusion,  there  is  no  good 
reason  why  our  citizens  shall  not  enjoy  the  benefits  arising 
therefrom.  Our  State  is  peculiarly  well  suited  to  the  culture 
of  Forghum.  The  seasons  are  long,  giving  a  sufficiency  of 
time  to  work  it  up,  and  the  reward  is  certainly  stimulating, 
It  is  the  opinion  of  the  Department  that  more  than  one  re- 
finery should  not  be  erected  for  the  present,  for  it  requires 
many  small  machines  to  keep  one  running.  But  there 
should  be  no  limit  to  the  others.  More  of  the  cane  should 
be  raised,  and  every  one  that  raises  it  in  sufficient  quantity 
should  provide  himself  with  a  mill  and  an  evaporator.  It 
would  be  a  good  idea  for  a  number  of  men  in  each  county 
to  set  up  a  centrifugal,  and  make  sugar  enough,  at  least, 
for  home  consumption. 

Mr.  E.  S.  Jones,  of  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  has  met  with 
considerable  success  in  the  manufacture  of  sugar.  Accord- 
ing to  his  experience  the  juice  of  the  orange  cane  contains 
from  10°  to  12°  by  Baume's  instrument.  This  is  from  2°  to 
4°  sweeter  than  is  obtained  from  any  other  variety  of  sor- 
ghum planted  in  Tennessee.  The  old  varieties  of  sorghum 


(161) 

require  from  eight  to  ten  gallons  of  raw  juice  to  make  one 
gallon  of  syrup,  while  with  the  early  amber  and  early 
orange  it  only  requires  from  five  to  six  gallons  of  juice  to 
inspissate  a  gallon  of  syrup.  This  is  a  great  advantage,  as 
no  more  work  is  required  to  cultivate  an  acre  of  the  one 
than  of  the  other.  Mr.  Jones  thinks  the  older  varieties  of 
sorghum  have  become  impared  by  hybridization  with 
broom  corn  and  other  congenital  plants. 

The  sugar  which  Mr.  Jones  makes  is  equal  to  Coffee  A 
and  C,  and  is  free  from  the  objectionable  sorghum  taste. 

With  the  introduction  of  sorghum  into  Tennessee  agri- 
culture, it  does  seem  that  the  last  desideratum  of  the  farmer 
is  supplied.  With  a  climate  the  most  salubrious  and  equa- 
ble, a  soil  the  most  various  and  comprehensive,  it  sends  into 
the  market,  annually,  grain  and  hay  of  every  description. 
Her  cattle  and  sheep  are  sent  in  large  numbers  into  North- 
ern cities,  while  her  mules  and  horses  supply  the  teams  of 
the  South.  Fruits  and  vegetables  anticipate  the  gardens  of 
the  North,  and  now  she  is  able  to  draw  a  plant  from  Africa 
or  Asia  to  supply  her  people  with  an  ample  quantity  of 
home  made  syrups  and  sugars. 


BEGGARS'  LICE— (Oynoglossum  Morisoni.) 

Although  this  is  nothing  more  than  a  weed,  and  a  very 
troublesome  one  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  sheep's  wool, 
yet  it  performs  a  very  important  function  in  the  economy 
of  nature,  as  it  constitutes  one  of  the  main  dependencies 
for  food  in  certain  sections  of  the  State  for  stock.  During 
the  winter  months  the  seeds  adhere  to  the  mouths  of  cattle, 
causing  their  mouths  to  look  like  warty  excrescences  adher- 
ing to  them.  The  seeds  are  full  of  gluten  and  starch,  and 
deer  get  fat  on  them  in  the  season.  This  weed  has  seeds 
11 


(  162  ) 

covered  with  minute  hooks,  so  that  they  cling  to  any  body 
coming  in  contact  with  them,  it  being  a  provision  of  nature 
by  which  they  are  conveyed  to  distant  points  for  germina- 
tion. 

It  abounds  in  almost  every  section  of  the  State,  but 
especially  on  the  "rim  lands"  in  the  "  barrens,"  where  it 
exists  in  the  greatest  abundance.  Cattle  are  very  fond  of  it, 
and  it  serves  a  useful  purpose  while  all  other  food  is  destroyed 
by  the  cold  weather.  In  fact,  the  cattle  of  the  range  keep 
in  good  thriving  order  on  the  seeds  alone  during  the  entire 
winter  months.  This  weed,  although  it  answers  such  a  use- 
ful purpose  as  a  food  for  both  cattle  and  sheep,  is  a  great 
pest,  as  the  seeds  render  wool  almost  worthless,  for  they  ad- 
here with  so  much  tenacity  to  wool  it  cannot  be  separated 
from  them,  and  no  machinery  has  yet  been  invented  that 
can  remove  them.  We  would  not  recommend  its  propaga- 
tion. 


INDEX 


PAGE. 

Alfalfa — Lucerne 55 

Analysis  of. 58 

Annual  Spear  Grass 64 

Beggars'  Lice 161 

Bermuda  Grass — Scutch  Grass 65 

Blue  Grass 65 

Analysis  of. 76 

Clover— Alsike 52 

Analysis  of. 53 

Clover — Crimson 54 

Analysis  of. 54 

Clover— Red 38 

Soils  adapted  to 39 

Sowing 40 

Growth  and  Manure 41 

Nutritive  value  and  constituent  elements  of 44 

AiiMlysis  of. 44,  45 

Effects  of  upon  soils — Manure  for ;..  45 

Saving  liay  of 47 

Saving  seed  of. 50 

As  a  preparatory  crop  for  wheat 51 

"rvovor— White 83 

Clover— Sipl ing  Red 54 

Clover— Japan,  or  King's  Grass 84 

Chinese  Sugar  Corn 141 

History  of. 142 

Varietits  of 144 

Cultivation  and  harvesting  of 146 

Manufacture  of  sugar  from 150 

Crab,  or  Crop  Grass 30 

Dhouro  Corn,  Durra  or  Doura,  Indian  Millet 123 

Analysis  of. 127 

Gama  Grass.... 34 


(164) 

Hairy  Muskit — Mezquite — Mesquit 63 

Meadows — Management  of  and  manures  for 88 

Preparation  of  lands  for 89 

Selection  of  seed  for  and  method  of  mixing 94 

Times  and  manner  of  sowing 100 

Cutting,  Curing,  and  Storing  Hay 103 

Troublesome  plants  to Ill 

Manures  for 110 

Analysis  of  soils  for 113 

Meadow  Grasses 13 

Names  of  trustworthy  varieties 13 

Meadow  Oat  Grass 35 

Meadow  Fescue — Randall  Grass — Evergreen  Grass 79 

Milletl 30 

Nimble  Will 60 

Orchard  Grass 23 

Analysis  of. 25 

Pasture  Grasses 59 

Pea . 127 

Polk,  Hon.  H.  M.,  on  the  cultivation  and  uses  of  the  pea 128 

Bed  Top— Herd's  Grass 20 

Rye  Grass— English 27 

Italian 27 

Sainfoin,  or  Esparsette 58 

Sheep's  Fescue 77 

Sorghum 36 

Analysis  of 37 

Sweet-scented  Vernal  Grass 82 

Timothy -. 13 

Tall  Meadow  Oak  Grass 80 

Tall  Fescue  Grass 80 

Wood  Meadow  Grass...                                              64 


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